Army of Immortals
by PsychicDreams
Summary: The Sailor Senshi and the Earthen Knights never had an incentive to work together, but when something life altering happens, they have no choice but to band together to retrieve the two most powerful people ever born. After they break out of jail, though.
1. Chapter 01: Crusader and Sword

Author's Note:

Yes, another fanfiction. This one is a bit different than my normal ones. I have only this one, another one and a sequel that I plan to work on and that's it. And any one-parters that I decide, on a whim, to do. I have done very few of those (two) and a single song-fic that involved Kunzite, so…slim hope.

The normal disclaimers here of course and that I'm certainly not doing this for money. I do this because I love the show and all the 'what-if's, which my family says I'm the queen of. 

This one can't really be put in a timeline, nor can I say that it's based on manga or anime (although anything based on the anime will be from the Japanese version). There are a few elements that are exclusive to the manga, as you will read, but those only involve character differences than from the anime, such as the Shitennous' relationship. Also, the Golden Crystal, which Mamoru has. 

Though Mamoru has the Golden Crystal, we haven't progressed to the SuperS season. The main evil they're fighting against is Beryl and Metallia. You'll see any other differences if you read this story. I don't want to give too much away.

If you need to contact me, my email is Guardian4@atlantic.net. Please put fanfiction or something in the subject line so I know what you're emailing me about. And if you're a really nice person (if this pertains to a certain fanfiction that I've done) you might want to put the name of the fanfiction you're referring to somewhere in the email.

All names are like the Japanese say them, last name first. So Kunzite's name would be Kail Rainer in America, but in Japanese it would be said Rainer Kail.

_Army of Immortals_

_Chapter 1: Crusader and Sword_

As usual, it was a draw as to who in fact killed the youma. And it didn't actually matter, nor was it a spoken issue. There was no enmity between them, no lost love or hatred. They barely even stayed around long enough to look at each other.

But that was all the press could talk about: the Sailor Senshi and the Earthen Knights. They couldn't find a topic that was more read about and they had to keep saving reckless reporters as they got to close, trying to get the 'perfect angle'. 

Yet what really bothered Aino Minako was that they kept trying to insinuate that there was something more to the relationship between the two groups than there really was. And she should be one to know; after all, she was second-in-command of the Sailor Senshi.

Oh, she didn't look it, but she was quite the leader. She was also quite the fighter, sworn to protect the Moon Princess at all costs. One might say, then, that putting this princess in the middle of a deadly fight might have the opposite effect, but it was actually better than having to protect her any other way. By being in the fight, she was learning techniques and skills to protect herself, not having to rely on the others so much.

It also didn't help, had she wanted to keep her out of battle, that her Princess was also her leader, Sailor Moon, commander of the Sailor Senshi. Quite able to pull rank and put herself in the battle if so chose. And she chose, by the gods, she chose.

Minako rubbed her sore shoulder, but didn't really mind the pain. It was better than missing an entire arm after all, wasn't it? She grumbled angrily. Right now, she almost wished that the monster had moved a little faster than her and eaten him, leaving one less nosy reporter to interfere. He had nearly cost her a vital limb, her Crescent Beam arm, for which left no love for him in her heart.

Despite what she showed to her leader, the Soldier of Love did not really care about saving the people of this planet. Oh sure, she cared about them, but not in the way that she would die painfully for them. The people certainly hadn't been all that nice to her, heartache after another, and it did not inspire nice and cuddly feelings for them in her heart.

However, she did love her Princess; loved her more than life, who she would willingly die painfully for. She would do anything the girl asked of her, anything at all, up to and including death. And her Princess wanted to protect the people of this planet, which she loved. And Minako would not really have it any other way. 

"Minako-chan!"

Minako turned and winced inwardly as her friend clapped her on the shoulder, the one with the bruise the size of Japan on it. "Hi, Hikaru."

"Did you read the papers today?"

"No, I didn't have time."

Hikaru smiled. "Well then you didn't hear that Sailor Venus and Sailor Moon got into an argument yesterday, after the battle."

Minako felt trepidation settle in her gut. Yes, they had had a bit of a disagreement, but it couldn't, under any circumstances, be called an argument.

"What was it about?"

"Sailor Moon doesn't like Sailor Venus' relationship with Knight Jadeite."

Minako fought a groan deep in her throat. The argument had not been about her relationship with Knight Jadeite, of which there was none, but about how Sailor Moon had gotten unnecessarily close to the youma to destroy it.

"I didn't think they had a relationship. I mean, also, don't you think the coupling is a little odd? She's second-in-command of the Senshi; wouldn't it make more sense if she had a relationship, it would be with Kunzite, second-in-command of the Knights, or even Tuxedo Kamen?"

Hikaru waved her hand dismissively. "Love doesn't care about rank or sense."

Her teeth ground together in true anger at her friend, for once in her entire life. She was the Soldier of LOVE and BEAUTY! Who was this person, even a close friend, to talk to her of Love? But she bit her tongue, so hard it bled, and kept silent.

"I wish I could be a reporter."

"Why on earth would you want that?" she asked incredulously.

"Because they are the ones that are the closest to the Sailor Senshi and Earthen Knights of anyone else. They can see all this information first hand!"

The bell rang loudly, covering her disgusted 'My God!' from Hikaru's ears. "Hurry up or we'll be late."

"We wouldn't want that," she muttered as her friend pulled her along. She really was not in the best of moods today.

"Are you going to meet those friends of yours today?" Hikaru asked as she grabbed her books to leave.

"Yes."

"Oh."

She looked up at her friend's disappointed tone. "Why?"

"Well, its just that I was hoping we could do something together. Ever since you met them, I've been seeing less and less of you."

Minako straightened up and put her hands on Hikaru's shoulders, forcing her to look up. "Yes, I'm meeting them today, but how about we do something tomorrow after school? You know, window shop or something?"

Hikaru smiled and nodded. "It's a deal."

They parted ways at the gate and Minako headed toward the Hikawa Shrine, where she would meet the other Senshi: Hino Rei, Mizuno Ami, Kino Makoto, and of course, Tsukino Usagi.

Hino Rei was their very own Sailor Mars, devoted Priestess and Soldier of War. From a glance, the girl looked much too exotic to approach, and perhaps that still held true from more than one glance. But if she let you in…everything you did that may have seemed wasted effort was worth it. She let her instincts do the thinking, and most of the time her instincts had saved Minako's life, not to mention the Princess' life.

Mizuno Ami was not unapproachable, like most thought because she was smart. Except that, unlike Rei, she let you in easily. She was also Sailor Mercury, Soldier of Wisdom. Her touch was not cold to her friends, like her element, but healing. Her brains and computer did her thinking and while her powers were defensive, that was what the Senshi needed. Among four others who had all offensive powers, she was the only one that could provide assistance to the team in other ways than frying the youma.

Kino Makoto. What could one say about her? Like Hino Rei, her looks contrasted with who she was. She was a tall girl, who often times let her fists do her thinking if she was angry. But beneath a steel-looking exterior, she almost as soft-hearted as their Princess, who did not know the meaning of the word 'no' when someone was in need. Makoto was quite an electric girl and that didn't include her Senshi persona, Sailor Jupiter, Soldier of Protection.

And Tsukino Usagi, the Moon Princess. The girl who they would all die to protect. She had something that was not of this world, yet at the same time was. Unlike most of the people on Earth that Minako had met, the terrible things that happened all over the world did not harden her. She felt with people she had never even met, even with Tuxedo Kamen, once the Prince of Earth, her supposed 'rival'. 

"A bit late, Minako-chan?" Rei asked as she topped the steps.

"I've just been thinking."

"Slows your steps a bit, huh?"

Minako rolled her eyes and didn't rise to take the bait. She knew that Rei was only going for some of the much needed humor they no longer had. With Beryl and Metallia's constant and increasing attacks, there was not much laughter anymore. 

"Did you see the papers today?" asked Makoto in amusement. "Yes, Minako-chan, stay away from Knight Jadeite. We don't like your non-existent relationship at all."

There was a smattering of laughter, but not much.

"Seriously though, why do they constantly write things like that?"

Ami put her reading glasses in her bag. "Because that's what people read. They want to think that there's romance in things like this, even if there isn't."

"How do you know that, Ami-chan?" questioned Usagi with a sly smile.

Ami blushed. "Well…I do read."

"What kinds of books? I bet she's a closet romance reader," teased Rei.

Her blush deepened and laughter floated shortly on the air again. 

"What I've never understood in novels where they have two hero groups that there must be hostility between them," Minako said. "Where does it say that I have to intensely dislike, say, Tuxedo Kamen just because he isn't a Sailor Senshi?"

"I don't know. Perhaps because he's from Earth originally and you were from Venus," suggested Ami.

"But that would be more of an excuse for Usagi-chan," protested Makoto. "You know that she's from the Moon, who most really didn't much care about Earth."

"I liked Earth," Usagi commented.

"We know that, but most didn't," Rei told her.

"Well, we do know that Tuxedo is Prince Endymion, so we can place him, but do any of you remember any of the others?" Minako continued. "I certainly can't."

"Not offhand and I've been racking my brain, trying to remember," Makoto answered.

Rei shook her head. "The masks they wear or something about them block the Fire from telling me anything."

"Nothing on my computer tells anything much at all about Earth of the Silver Millennium."

"Usagi-chan?" Rei prompted.

"I remember meeting Endymion once, and he struck me as nice and polite. I seem to recall there were a few people with him, but I don't remember them. They could have been diplomats for all I know or protectors."

They sighed. "Oh well, I suppose it doesn't matter."

"Don't you think it would be more efficient to be working together though?" Ami suggested. "It would be much more economical."

"We really don't have the time to arrange a meeting and be diplomatic," Rei pointed out. Minako and the others had to reluctantly agree.

"Where are Luna and Artemis?" asked Usagi, looking around.

"They couldn't make it," Makoto told her. 

"Why?"

The tall girl shrugged.

"Well, Ojii-chan said that we could use the backroom for tomorrow's Senshi meeting."

Rei's grandfather was the only family member of the Senshi that knew what they were. At first, they had been unsure if it was wise, but the advantages outweighed the disadvantages. If someone was hurt and they couldn't take them to a hospital, they at least had a safe-house to recover at.

"I can't make it to the meeting tomorrow. I have other plans."

"But Minako-chan, you've known about this meeting all week. How could you make plans for tomorrow?" Rei demanded.

"I'm going with Hikaru to the mall to window shop. You don't understand," she said in response to Rei's outraged look. "Hikaru and I haven't done anything together for months, since being a Soldier has taken up most of my time. She's beginning to feel left out when I always hang around with you guys, which I love to do. But I do appreciate Hikaru's friendship and if I don't do something now, I'll lose it."

"She does have a point Rei-chan," Usagi commented, seeing the still skeptical and angry expression gracing the priestess' face.

"I suppose you can't do anything about it now."

"I can't and I wouldn't. Don't worry I'll be here about only an hour late."

End Chapter 1


	2. Chapter 02: One of Those Days

Author's Note:

Yes, another fanfiction. This one is a bit different than my normal ones. I have only this one, another one and a sequel that I plan to work on and that's it. And any one-parters that I decide, on a whim, to do. I have done very few of those (two) and a single song-fic that involved Kunzite, so…slim hope.

The normal disclaimers here of course and that I'm certainly not doing this for money. I do this because I love the show and all the 'what-if's, which my family says I'm the queen of. 

This one can't really be put in a timeline, nor can I say that it's based on manga or anime (although anything based on the anime will be from the Japanese version). There are a few elements that are exclusive to the manga, as you will read, but those only involve character differences than from the anime, such as the Shitennous' relationship. Also, the Golden Crystal, which Mamoru has. 

Though Mamoru has the Golden Crystal, we haven't progressed to the SuperS season. The main evil they're fighting against is Beryl and Metallia. You'll see any other differences if you read this story. I don't want to give too much away.

If you need to contact me, my email is Guardian4@atlantic.net. Please put fanfiction or something in the subject line so I know what you're emailing me about. And if you're a really nice person (if this pertains to a certain fanfiction that I've done) you might want to put the name of the fanfiction you're referring to somewhere in the email.

All names are like the Japanese say them, last name first. So Kunzite's name would be Kail Rainer in America, but in Japanese it would be said Rainer Kail.

_Army of Immortals_

_Chapter 2: One of Those Days_

"Hikaru-chan!"

"Hey Minako-chan! Ready for window shopping?"

"Yup!"

They walked arm in arm, chatting and glancing through windows that caught their eyes. Sometimes Minako would see a cute guy here or there and Hikaru would wait until she finished waxing about how wonderful he looked. 

Minako was busy drooling over a pale yellow dress when she caught sight of him in the reflection of the glass. She turned sharply around, seeing him among a group of males…the most gorgeous specimens of the male kind. A blush stained her cheeks as she watched the group of five men walk on the opposite sidewalk.

"Minako-chan?" Hikaru asked, startling her.

"Look," she whispered, pointing.

Hikaru followed her pointing finger with her gaze and caught sight of what held her friend dumbstruck. She whistled. "You're absolutely right. We can't let them go."

The sentence caught her attention like nothing else that Hikaru had said. "What?"

Her friend grabbed her arm and proceeded to drag her across the street. As much as she wanted to meet them, Minako knew that she was sometimes a klutz and she didn't want these gorgeous men to see that.

"Hello," Hikaru told them.

Five pairs of eyes looked at them and Minako's blush deepened. There were two really tall guys, one with brown hair so dark it was near black. At the very least four shades darker than Makoto's, which reached just past his ears. His eyes were a chocolate color and full of amusement. He had a darker complexion than his companions and his fingers had a few calluses on them, suggesting he worked with his hands a lot. 

The other tall one was the one that had caught Minako's eye. He had straight, dark silver hair that was in a ponytail, which made it difficult to see the length. His eyes were an ice blue color, in contrast to the two other blue-eyed guys in the group. His build wasn't like the brown-haired one, thinner in the muscles. 

One held out his hand to hers and she took it, looking up into his blue eyes. They were midnight blue, darker than her Princess' but just as deep. His black hair fell over his brow sexily and he smiled at her. He was probably the shortest of them, but that was by no means he was short. Minako barely came up to his chin.

"Hello, I'm Chiba Mamoru."

"Aino Minako," she muttered.

"This is Rainer Kail," he continued, pointing to the one who had caught all her attention. Kail smiled at her and she felt herself melting.

"This is Harlan Jayden." 

The last blue eyed male stepped forward and shook her hand. His eyes were a few shades darker than Kail's, but much, much lighter than Mamoru's. His blond hair was wavy and refused to be controlled. It was the shortest of all of them, barely reaching down to his eyebrows. He was near the thinnest of them all, sleek looking and smiling. He and Mamoru were of the same height.

"I'm Brayton Neil," said the brown-haired one, with his hand outstretched.

Minako managed to take it, though her head was spinning.

"And the last of us is Vaschel Zayn."

Zayn's bottle green eyes blinked at her as he smiled. He was the thinnest of them all, like quicksilver made human. His dark blonde hair filled with large, loose curls that made him look irresistible to the female species. 

"I'm Hikaru."

"Pleased to meet you both," answered Mamoru.

"Are you doing anything important right now?"

Minako wanted to hit her friend, wanted to sink into the earth and disappear. Could this be any more embarrassing? Any minute the five males of loveliness were going to say no they all had girlfriends and move on, leaving her standing there like a fool.

"Not really. We're just wandering around."

"Would you like to join us? We're just wandering around too. We can wander around together."

The males looked at each other and something silent passed between them. "Okay," Zayn said as they moved on.

"Really?" Minako asked in shock.

"Yeah. Why are you so surprised?"

Her blush was so deep she was sure that her face had to look like a tomato. "I would have thought that you would be meeting your girlfriends or something."

They laughed, all of them. "We don't have girlfriends," Mamoru told her.

"Why not?" questioned Hikaru, hanging off her arm.

"We just haven't found the right ones yet," Jayden explained, shrugging. "We also don't date a girl that doesn't like one of us. We hold our friendship higher than dating."

"Well, let's go wander around some," her friend said enthusiastically and proceeded to link her arm through Mamoru's, who looked down at her in surprise.

The others shrugged and they began to move off, amid the jealous glares of other girls.

"Well I have to be going," Minako said at last, pulling her arm from Kail's reluctantly. 

"Why? Where are you going?" asked Jayden.

She checked to make sure Hikaru was out of hearing shot as she left down the street to her home. "I'm going to meet some friends of mine."

"You mean you have more friends?"

Minako laughed. All that day she had run into girls that had suddenly started talking to her. She must have run into at least twenty of them who had not spoken to her at all. She had a feeling why and it probably had everything to do with these amazing guys that not only looked great but were absolutely hilarious and fun to be around. "These are my closest friends."

"We'll walk you there. Where are they?" Kail asked, looking around.

"Not in the mall. We usually meet at my friend's shrine, where she's a priestess-in-training. It's a pretty long walk from here."

"It won't hurt us," Mamoru joked as they moved on.

As they reached the bottom edge of the steps, she turned to them. "Well this is it, Hikawa Shrine."

"Can we meet your friends before we go?"

She looked at Neil in surprise. "Do you want to?"

"Yes. I want to see who would be a close friend to you."

She shrugged. "Okay."

"Minako-chan! You said you would be an hour late! It's been three!"

The boys looked up at the screeching and Minako only sighed as she caught sight of Rei, brandishing a broom on the landing. 

"I'm sorry, I know I said only an hour. I got caught up in something else."

"Oh and what was that?"

"Them," she whispered and discreetly pointed behind her at the boys just topping the stairs.

Rei stared at them in the expression Minako was sure that had graced her face when she had first seen them. They were all so gorgeous she wasn't sure they were even human. And none of them were vain at all; well, not more so than other guys.

"You brought one for all of us. How thoughtful," Makoto drawled as she exited the shrine.

Minako blushed as the guys exchanged smiles. 

"I'm Chiba Mamoru and these are my close friends." He then proceeded to introduce them, drawing incredulous looks from her other three friends that had just come from the inside of the Shrine.

She watched as Mamoru stuttered to a halt. When she looked to see what he was staring at, she found his gaze locked onto her Princess, who seemed just as taken as she was. She began to get a smile on her face, thinking. Ami saw it and made a motion to be quiet, but Minako ignored her.

"This is Tsukino Usagi, a very close friend of mine. This is Kino Makoto, Hino Rei, and Mizuno Ami."

Mamoru cleared his throat and walked up to Usagi. "Pleased to meet you," he said. 

She smiled. "Pleased to meet you."

"Rei-chan, what are you doing? The backroom needs to be cleaned."

Rei shook her head, as if she was dazed. "Yes, Ojii-chan."

"Well, we do have to be going," Zayn said, managing to grab Mamoru's arm and pull his dumbstruck friend along.

"Bye!" Minako called cheerfully, startling her friends back from their staring.

"Where did you meet these guys?" demanded Makoto.

"In the mall."

"I need to go there more often."

Minako laughed.

End Chapter 2


	3. Chapter 03: Zodiac of Wrath

Author's Note:

The normal disclaimers here of course and that I'm certainly not doing this for money.

There are a few elements that are exclusive to the manga, as you will read, but those only involve character differences than from the anime, such as the Shitennous' relationship. Also, the Golden Crystal, which Mamoru has. 

If you need to contact me, my email is Guardian4@atlantic.net. Please put fanfiction or something in the subject line so I know what you're emailing me about. And if you're a really nice person (if this pertains to a certain fanfiction that I've done) you might want to put the name of the fanfiction you're referring to somewhere in the email.

All names are like the Japanese say them, last name first. So Kunzite's name would be Kail Rainer in America, but in Japanese it would be said Rainer Kail.

_Army of Immortals_

_Chapter 3: Zodiac of Wrath_

"Mamoru-kun, wake up! You're daydreaming while walking. Bad combination," Jayden said while shaking his head.

Mamoru blinked a few times and laughed, a bit self-deprecatingly. "That is a bad combination, isn't it?"

Kail shook his head. "Well at least we know which one you like."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You're head over heels in love with Tsukino Usagi," teased Neil.

"Actually it isn't love," contradicted Zayn. "I don't think so anyway. I would classify it as attraction, yes, or perhaps infatuation. You know Mamoru-kun has never shown much interest in women."

"Ever the analytical," muttered Jayden.

Zayn shrugged.

"Did you guys catch the paper today?" Mamoru asked. "Did you read what the reporters are saying now?"

"What?"

"They're now saying Jayden has a relationship with Sailor Venus and that Sailor Moon doesn't like that."

Jayden rolled his eyes. "Please! Where are they getting this stuff from?"

As they turned the corner, they spotted a woman with a camera around her neck cornering a poor girl with red hair and a bow. When they got closer, they heard her saying, "Come on, I know they've saved you a few times! Surely you saw or heard _something?"_

"What are you harassing her for?" demanded Kail in an extremely hard voice.

The woman turned around with a frown on her face. "This girl has been saved by the Sailor Senshi at least three times and she claims she doesn't know anything about anything dealing with them or the Earthen Knights. She _claims_ that she's always unconscious."

"And you don't believe her?" responded Neil immediately. "Why not?"

"Because no one in his right mind would be unconscious when the Sailor Senshi and the Earthen Knights are involved."

Mamoru rolled his eyes. "I seriously doubt she chose to be attacked in the first place, much less that she chose to be unconscious. Leave the girl alone."

"Excuse me?" she demanded, advancing angrily on the black-haired man.

Immediately Kail was at her and placing himself in front of Mamoru. "Get lost."

She frowned up at him, huffed, and left, casting the girl a look of something near hatred. The girl managed to straighten from her flattened position against a wall and bowed to them. "Thank you very much. My name is Osaka Naru."

"Don't worry about it. Reporters are all the same," Mamoru told her and they moved on.

"You conveniently forgot to tell her your name," commented Jayden. 

"You noticed that, did you?" He smiled.

"Don't you think we should do something about the relationship between us and the Senshi?" asked Zayn lowly. "I mean, wouldn't it be better to work together against Beryl and Metallia? Earth needs all the help it can get."

"Okay, tell me when we have time to contact them, and how to do it without all the reporters," Neil told him.

Zayn was silent for a bit. "You're right about that."

"Those girls had to be the most beautiful creatures on this planet! They can't be real! They can't be human!" Jayden muttered, staring up at the sky with a lost expression on his face.

"I'm sure they're human," Mamoru said, pondering. "It's not like they're from other planets or anything. Besides, there's more than looks."

"I know that! But I didn't even get a chance to talk to that Hino Rei. Zayn dragged us away before I could." He leveled an accusing stare at his blond friend.

Zayn glared back. "And you think I didn't want to stay and talk to that Mizuno Ami? I would have loved to, but I had to save Mamoru-kun's image. He was so busy drooling that in another minute he would have drowned the girl in it."

"Hey!" He punched him in the arm lightly.

"I think we were the only ones who didn't make fools of themselves," Neil commented to Kail.

Kail laughed. "Well I never make a fool of myself, especially not in front of beautiful, gorgeous women like Aino Minako."

"I thought so," Jayden said. "Did you even look at that girl Hikaru again after you saw Minako?"

He blushed a bit. "Well, okay I'll admit that I didn't…Besides, she looked more interested in Mamoru-kun."

"Everyone is always more interested in Mamoru-kun. Why is that?" his friend complained.

"It's not like I asked for that."

"I guess it must carry over from that regal thing you have going on as Endymion."

Kail kicked him hard. "Shut up! There are reporters everywhere. If they even catch a whiff of that sentence, we're so screwed."

Jayden rubbed his leg. "I get it, I get it. Jeez, you didn't have to kick me all that hard."

Neil stopped suddenly and looked up at the sky. "Metallia has sent some youma through, near the amphitheater. And it's a strong one."

Kail ran with his friends to a secluded area to henshin to their more powerful forms: the Earthen Knights.

They never once considered that perhaps it was a trap.

For the first time since the two groups were aware of each other's presence, Sailor Venus found herself fighting back to back with one of them. His silver hair reached down to his shoulder blades and he wore a silver mask. She wasn't quite sure, but she thought he was Knight Kunzite. 

They didn't know much about the Earthen Knights, other than they knew that Tuxedo Kamen was Prince Endymion. It had been a slip up, she was sure. During the first few battles with Beryl's youma, neither group had been doing so well. When a strike for Tuxedo Kamen would have killed him, she thought that it was perhaps Knight Jadeite that had called out 'Endymion!' 

Then again, the Knights also knew that Sailor Moon was Princess Serenity. She herself had slipped up and called her by Serenity during a battle and situation much like when they had found out about Tuxedo Kamen being Prince Endymion. Those two were instrumental in defeating Beryl and Metallia.

There were very few memories, but she did remember the one thing that made Earth a very powerful ally, should they have done the peace treaties back in the Silver Millennium. It was the same thing that had made the Moon one of the most powerful planets. They had a crystal much the one that Princess Serenity now carried. She thought that it might have been called the Golden Crystal or something, but she was not entirely sure because her memories were so fuzzy.

Venus was fighting with all she had and it still wasn't enough to turn the tide. And there was something wrong with this picture. But there wasn't anything she could put her finger on. There were a number of youma for one, and for another, there was a strange pattern of attack to them, but she couldn't pick it out. Neither could Mercury, obviously, when she began to swear mildly.

And then there was laughing, laughing that chilled her bones. She knew that laugh. That laugh was the last thing she heard as she died on the Moon, when it fell, crushed beneath the feet of an undead army and youma, powered by a force that should not have existed, anywhere.

"Thank you for coming so easily to my trap, Sailor Senshi. And you as well Earthen Knights."

Venus looked up and saw a face in the sky, one that she wanted to see burning in hell for all eternity.

"Beryl," she muttered with enough hatred in her voice to send an entire city to its knees, cowering in fear of the wrath to be unleashed.

"You will address me as Queen Beryl, should we ever meet again, which is not likely. Also, you might want to say your goodbyes to your dear Prince and Princess. They will be coming with me."

Her head snapped down, her eyes searching for Sailor Moon. But there was so much debris in the way…so hard to see. When she finally spotted her, she wanted to yell out, but something held her tongue and she continued to search. What would be taking her Princess?

And then she saw it. A portal that was opened in the sky, tentacles reaching out and grabbing Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen around their necks. With a movement that could only be described as a yank, their bodies dragged upward and through the portal. 

"SERENITY!"

"ENDYMION!"

"I hope you find your new accommodations to be enjoyable," she said with triumph in her voice. 

And then the face was gone, all signs of battle gone. Police were running toward them, but Venus wasn't paying too much attention to them. How was she going to get the Princess back?

In a rage, she jumped high into the sky and yelled, "Crescent Beam Shower!" A deluge of beams slammed into the earth. She landed breathing heavily and nearly crying. _I FAILED, was all she could think._

"Fire Soul Bird!"

"Shabon Spray Freezing!"

"Supreme Thunder Dragon!"

Anger filled her friends' voices and their heavy breathing told them they were taking out their frustrations on the earth as well. A glance up and she saw that the ground around them scorched by fire, frozen by water, and shocked by lightning. Scored by anger and self-resentment, and there was nothing anyone could do to heal it.

Her gaze wandered to the Knights and saw they were taking the loss of their Prince even worse than they were taking the loss of their Princess. At least they had some semblance of control, limiting their rage to powers and not physical hurt.

It did not seem so for the Knights.

The silver masked one looked to be dying on the inside, such was the anguish on his face. His fist clenched tightly at his side and two small tears graced his cheeks. "Brother," he whispered.

The revelation was too much for her right then, so she ignored it. But was he calling Endymion a brother of the past or a brother of the present?

"Damn it, we failed!"

His hand slammed onto the steel railing and she looked at his mask, edged in blue. That must be Knight Jadeite, she thought seeing the bow at his back. The archer, the sniper, the ranger.

"I think we should leave before the police get here. Leave RIGHT NOW!" screeched one of the Knights with a green mask. 

"Why? What will they do to us?" demanded Mars.

"They'll think we just killed six police officers," said the silver masked one.

Venus looked down and gasped in shock. "But they weren't police officers! They were youma! Mercury's computer scanned them as youma! They were youma, right Mercury?!"

Mercury stabbed down hard on the keys of her computer, frantically trying to make sense of her data. "They were youma, I swear it! But Beryl did something and every test that I now have says they're human! I have both files in front of me, right here! Both scans!"

"But they're not going to see that," said a burgundy masked Knight too calmly, as if he had no emotions.

"Sailor Senshi, Earthen Knights, you are under arrest for the murder of six police officers."

"But they aren't human!" Jupiter said hysterically. "They aren't human, they're youma!"

"Tell that in court!"

_Damn, we should have left when we had the chance_, Venus thought as they roughly dragged her hands behind her back and put cuffs on her.

Amid sirens and reporters, the two groups were shoved into police cars and brought down to the jail. For the most part, the two groups stayed together until they came to a split in the hallway. The Earthen Knights separated from them, shoved down the branch that had just opened up while the Senshi continued on, not by choice, down the same one as before.

The bars slammed closed behind them, the cuffs taken off, and they found themselves alone. But Venus could hear the catcalls and voices from the real criminals down the hall and most of them she knew she had helped put away when she had been Sailor V.

"What are we going to do Venus?" Mercury asked in a weak voice.

"About what?"

"About this jail cell! About the Princess! About Beryl!" hissed Mars.

"I don't know," she replied heavily. "I don't know."

End Chapter 3.


	4. Chapter 04: It's Our Calling

Author's Note:

The normal disclaimers here of course and that I'm certainly not doing this for money.

There are a few elements that are exclusive to the manga, as you will read, but those only involve character differences than from the anime, such as the Shitennous' relationship. Also, the Golden Crystal, which Mamoru has. 

If you need to contact me, my email is Guardian4@atlantic.net. Please put fanfiction or something in the subject line so I know what you're emailing me about. And if you're a really nice person (if this pertains to a certain fanfiction that I've done) you might want to put the name of the fanfiction you're referring to somewhere in the email.

All names are like the Japanese say them, last name first. So Kunzite's name would be Kail Rainer in America, but in Japanese it would be said Rainer Kail.

_Army of Immortals_

_Chapter 4: It's Our Calling_

Venus and her Senshi followed their guard into the courtroom to find reporters and the Earthen Knights crowding together. One glance and she knew that they had obviously had a very long night. Their weapons gone and tired eyes, they didn't much look like the proud warriors that Venus knew they were. Come to that, they had also taken the Moon Sword and the Venus Chain she wore around her waist. 

"They took my Mars Arrow," her friend growled.

"And the Mercury Lyre and the Jupiter Wreath," she mumbled, having heard it before. "I know."

"We need to get out of here and rescue the Princess," demanded Jupiter lowly.

"I'm working on it," she hissed back. "Mercury, where are our weapons?"

"I don't know yet. I barely have time to use my computer because if they see it, they'll take it away," Mercury whispered.

Venus glanced to the left and saw the Knights sit down wearily. The prosecutor stood up and approached the jury, beginning a speech that held no interest to Venus. 

Mars leaned toward her and whispered, "Don't you think having a jury is a bit excessive?"

"Most likely."

"Where's our attorney? Shouldn't we have one?"

The door banged open and a man stumbled in, clutching a briefcase. "Sorry I'm late, Your Honor."

"And who are you?"

"I'm the attorney for the Earthen Knights and the Sailor Senshi."

"They have an attorney?"

The man straightened up indignantly. "Of course they have an attorney! Everyone is entitled to a defense!"

The judge shrugged. "Fine."

"Does it seem like he's predisposed against us?" remarked Mercury.

"Certainly seems that way," responded Jadeite.

"I call my first witness, Sailor Venus," the prosecutor said, startling her.

"Say what?"

"Come to the stand."

She sighed and approached the stand.

"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"

Venus was in indecision. She couldn't tell them the whole truth of what she was. But she had to say something. "Yes."

"Very good. You may sit."

She sat.

"Sailor Venus, may I call you Venus?"

"No."

He frowned. "Sailor Venus, what happened at the amphitheater?"

"We were fighting youma."

"What are 'youma'?"

"They're monsters; I guess would be the easiest way to explain it."

"Where do these youma come from?"

"From another dimension."

"Is there anything controlling these youma?"

"Yes."

"And what is it?"

"That's privileged information. I cannot share that."

"But—"

"Prosecutor, it is not relevant to this case. Move on."

Grumbling, the man did so. "Sailor Venus, who are you?"

Venus glared at him. "That is extremely privileged information that I cannot, under any circumstances, tell you."

"This is relevant to this case, Your Honor. I ask that she answer the question."

The judge looked her over and she locked eyes with him. "Sailor Venus, is the reason you cannot answer this question so pertinent that it would risk Japan?"

"More than that. It would risk the entire Earth."

"Then you may remain silent. Prosecutor, you are treading on thin ice. Keep your questions related to this case otherwise I shall have you removed from the courtroom and another attorney assigned in your stead."

"Yes, Your Honor."

"I guess he isn't as predisposed against us as we thought," murmured Jadeite. 

"Sailor Venus, if you were fighting youma at the amphitheater, as you claim, then how is it possible that instead of six monsters there were six dead police officers lying on the ground, scarred by your powers?"

Here was the hard part because she herself didn't understand that either. "They were youma when we were fighting them. We know because we fought more than six, around eight I should say. They all turned into dust like usual, which is why there are normally no bodies after our fights. But after an…incident, which I cannot relate due to its sensitive nature, we found that somehow the youma bodies had changed to become police officers, by a magic so complete that even under the autopsy they would look like human beings."

"Uh huh. Now, I noticed that Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen are not here in this courtroom today. Where are they?"

She glanced to the judge, but he did not look as if he would help her with this question. She looked at Mercury, who mouthed 'relevant question' at her. Their attorney leaned down to speak with who she thought was Kunzite as he motioned to him.

"Sailor Venus, please answer the question," the prosecutor repeated.

"They aren't here because of the incident I told you I couldn't relate."

He suddenly smiled and she knew she that she had fallen into a trap he had so carefully laid to get around the relevancy issue.

"Well it is quite relevant to know where Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen are. Therefore, it is relevant to know what that incident is that involved them."

Venus was getting desperate. "Look, I—"

Suddenly their attorney shot up out of his chair as if Jupiter had set a lightning bolt under his seat. "Your Honor?"

"Yes, counselor?"

"Despite the fact that the two missing heroes and where they are, are relevant, my client cannot disclose the incident. To fully explain what happened, why and where, it would require knowledge that would put the Earth at risk, such as Sailor Venus explained earlier. Therefore, she cannot answer where Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen are at this time."

The judge thought about this, glancing between all parties. "Sustained."

Venus flashed a quick smile at the silver masked one. 

"Any further questions for this witness, Prosecutor?"

"No further questions," he growled and stalked to his seat.

"Counselor you may cross examine."

Her attorney, who she was beginning to like very much, approached her. "Sailor Venus, why do you fight?"

"Because it's our calling. It is what we were meant to do in life."

"But when you fight, what are you protecting?"

"We are protecting the Earth and the people on it."

"I see. And would you, or any of the defendants here today, harm a human being, as you so clearly state that these youma are not?"

"Never."

"Why not?"

How could she explain it so they would understand? Yes she protected the Earth and the people on it, no she would not harm it, and yes she did want to protect them. But how could she explain that while she would not care to die for it, she would if necessary. How could she tell them that she really wanted to protect them from what happened in the Silver Millennium?

She took a deep breath and let it out, trying to find the words. "If we fought to protect the people of Earth, why would we harm them? But I guess that isn't the answer you're searching for. We protect the people because we are the same as them. The only differences are that we have abilities to fight and protect them against things that they can't protect themselves from. If we didn't have these abilities and we knew about these things, we would want someone to protect us. We do love the Earth and the people on it; we don't want to see them hurt. How can I explain it so you can understand?"

"I think we understand good enough, Sailor Venus. One last question, please. Why did you allow the arrest of you and your companions? You could have easily gotten away."

"Because we did nothing wrong. We did not kill police officers, but youma. If we did not do something wrong, then why should we run?"

"Thank you, Sailor Venus. You may step down."

Venus took her seat back beside her friends and sighed lowly. She wished she were anywhere but here. A glance at the jury told her that they were not sympathetic to her point of view, considering the few frowns on their faces. _We need to get out of here, but how? _she wondered.

One by one her friends sat on the stand and they said the same thing as her, but with more venom in Mars and Jupiter's voices as the prosecutor touched on sensitive subjects. 

"We'll adjourn for today. The trial will continue tomorrow morning," the judge finally announced. 

Venus stood up and noticed that Mercury and the Knight with a green mask exchanged significant glances every few minutes as the guard led them away.

"What's going on, Mercury?" she asked as soon as the guard had gone and they were alone in the cell.

"I'm going to contact Knight Zoisite, the one with a green mask. He has something like my minicomputer which I can talk to him with."

Jupiter immediately moved in front of the blue Senshi, blocking her from view from the front. Mars stood at an angle that would prevent her from sight should they look at them from that direction. Venus leaned over her shoulder, watching as she typed. 

"What's that in green?"

"That's his reply."

The conversation about computers and such was a bit confusing to Venus, but she managed to make the rest of it into sense.

'Where are you?' Mercury typed.

'Down that hall, third cell on the right,' was the reply.

'Can you pick out where our weapons are?'

'Somewhere near the front of the station. Probably watched by guards. Can you patch into the security cameras and feed it to me?'

'I can try.'

The conversation appeared in its own small window near the top left of the screen. The Ice Senshi brought up a diagram, a few lines lighting up here and there. A few more taps and she had another window up on her screen. It showed police officers milling around a table, casting nervous glances at what was on it. She immediately recognized the Moon Sword, her Venus Chain, the Mercury Lyre, the Jupiter Wreath, and the Mars Arrow, but she guessed the other objects there had to be the Knights. There were twin swords with a dragon engraved on each blade, a huge double-bladed axe with emeralds set deep into the metal in a kind of star design, a bow decorated with rubies shaped in the form of a phoenix, and a spear that looked to be made of ice, with an elaborate tip.

'Perfect,' was the typed reply, 'right near the entrance. We can grab them on our way out.'

"What is he doing?" Venus whispered, seeing a guard move to the table. "If he so much as touches my Chain…"

Hearing that, Jupiter and Mars could no longer hold in their curiosity and crowded around Mercury. "I want him touch my Wreath," Jupiter muttered. "Go ahead and touch it. It's a shocking experience."

Indeed, the guard had picked up Jupiter's Wreath. His yell filtered through the feed and sounded distorted off Mercury's computer. Another man went through a whole speech, obviously, and carefully picked it up with a baton, being extremely careful about not touching it.

'We need to get out of here. We'll be convicted for sure and we have to rescue the Prince and Princess,' Mercury typed as Jupiter and Mars continued to block her from sight and kept a watch out.

'Tomorrow, midnight. You come down near our hallway; then we'll head toward the front and grab our weapons. We'll leave by the front door, but if we can't, we'll have to make our own exit.'

"Can you get us out of the bars, Venus?" Mercury whispered.

Venus studied them. "Yes. With my Crescent Beam, I can saw off the sides and top. Simple and will take less than a minute."

"Good."

'Can you get out?'

'Yes. I can freeze the bars, letting Kunzite, Nephrite, and Jadeite shatter them. Take about a minute, maybe less.'

'Good.'

She slowly closed her computer and set it in her subspace pocket. "At least we have a plan. But Venus, even if we get Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen back, what are we going to do about the police? They're going to be looking for us for a long time, perhaps forever."

"I don't know, Mercury. But the operative thing we need to worry about is getting them back in the first place. My idea is this, concerning priorities: Get the Princess back, defeat Beryl and Metallia, save the world, and then worry about the police. They're pretty low on the list."

"Exactly," Mars muttered, glaring as a police officer stared a little too long at her legs.

"Let's get some sleep. Tomorrow's court day will be brutal."

End Chapter 4


	5. Chapter 05: Song of the Damned

Author's Note:

The normal disclaimers here of course and that I'm certainly not doing this for money.

There are a few elements that are exclusive to the manga, as you will read, but those only involve character differences than from the anime, such as the Shitennous' relationship. Also, the Golden Crystal, which Mamoru has. 

If you need to contact me, my email is Guardian4@atlantic.net. Please put fanfiction or something in the subject line so I know what you're emailing me about. And if you're a really nice person (if this pertains to a certain fanfiction that I've done) you might want to put the name of the fanfiction you're referring to somewhere in the email.

All names are like the Japanese say them, last name first. So Kunzite's name would be Kail Rainer in America, but in Japanese it would be said Rainer Kail.

_Army of Immortals_

_Chapter 5: Song of the Damned_

Tuxedo Kamen watched as Sailor Moon blinked her eyes as she waked. She put her hand to her forehead, sitting up and looking around with wide eyes. "Where are we?"

"My guess would be in Beryl's fortress," he answered grimly. "Do you remember what happened in the battle?"

"Vaguely. _Very vaguely," she acknowledged reluctantly._

He sighed. "I don't remember much more than that myself. All I know right now is that we are somewhere we _don't want to be."_

In the silence, they heard clearly the sound of glass shattering across the ground. And the door opened slowly, as if it had never meant to. A tentacle reached in, forming into a hand. Sailor Moon screamed as it waved in her direction slightly.

"Queen Beryl orders your presence," hissed a voice that sounded like nails shaken in a glass bottle.

"Tell her to come to us," he told him arrogantly.

The tentacle gripped Sailor Moon's neck. "Come now or she shall die."

Left with no choice, Tuxedo Kamen stood up and followed the youma. As it moved away, it let go of Sailor Moon's neck. She staggered and coughed in breath, her chest moving like a bellows to take in air.

"Are you all right?" he whispered, cautiously watching his footing.

"Not as good as I could be, but I'll live."

"In a place like this, all we can do is hope for that."

Huge double doors opened without a hand to move them. With trepidation in his heart, he proceeded first, before Sailor Moon, into the room. A woman sat in a huge, grotesque dais made of bone. She smiled and beckoned them toward her. He frowned, but with the youma surrounding her and them, he didn't have much choice but to do what she had obviously told them to do.

"Welcome to my palace, Endymion."

If she had attempted to add some warmth to her voice, she had failed miserably. "Hello, Beryl. I could have done with a less physical invitation."

"I hope you weren't harmed."

"I wouldn't know. I was unconscious for the past hour and woke up in your dungeon cell."

"I shall have that youma punished then," she said insincerely.

He crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm sure."

She turned to Sailor Moon. "Princess Serenity, I'm sorry you must be exposed to what you must consider to be horrid, but you must be exposed to some reality in life."

The Senshi frowned. "I'm not as fragile as glass. I'm perfectly capable of handling the 'reality' you think I should be exposed to."

Beryl visibly struggled with her anger. "Very well. Endymion, will you join me tonight for a little after-hours talk?"

His eyebrow rose theatrically. "You must be joking."

Her ingratiating smile vanished. "I see, it must be the love you share that continues to make you despise me."

"What love? I despise you because you constantly try to destroy the Earth."

She looked between him and Sailor Moon and then burst out laughing. "I can't believe it! They don't remember!"

Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen exchanged glances. "Well, whatever we don't remember it must be better than you," his companion told her smugly.

"You may be a princess, but I am a queen and no one speaks to me like that!" She snapped her fingers and two youma melted from the crowd and approached them. Sailor Moon gave them a scared look that changed to excruciating pain as whips lined with broken glass slashed into her back.

Her screams filled the silence of that dark place with horrible feelings. It ripped his soul. He didn't think there were any other feelings between them...but he knew no one should have to suffer that kind of agony, not at all. Especially someone as softhearted as her.

"Sailor Moon, are you all right?" he asked, kneeling next to her as they stopped whipping her.

He could see tears threatening at the corner of her eyes. She bit her lip and muttered, "It hurts."

Tuxedo Kamen glared at that queen sitting on her throne, trying to look regal. "You ugly hag! She only said the truth."

And then he felt that whip cut into his back. He sounded one cry of alarm and pain before he shut his mouth, not willing to give Beryl the satisfaction of knowing how much it hurt him. 

"Leave him alone, cretin!" the girl beside him yelled, supporting him as he leaned over in pain.

She screamed in his ear as one whip left him and proceeded to slam into her back again. He linked their arms together, each radiating support of the other as one human being hurt next to another in unspeakable torture. 

An hour later, he hit the ground inside that dank cell that he found preferable than that of Beryl's throne room. His coat torn to shreds, barely reaching past his shoulders anymore. Thankfully he landed on his chest and not on his back, which was bloody and torn. Sailor Moon was not so lucky. She landed with more force and timed so that she would land on her back.

He wanted to scream and tear Beryl apart for what she did to them. True, their comments were insolent and intended to be hurtful, but he doubted that even if they were on their knees and praising her would she have left them unscathed.

Sailor Moon whimpered and rolled over onto her stomach. Her gloved hands clenched and she attempted to pull herself to the bed. 

"Don't move, Sailor Moon."

She froze and he put his hands over her back. His healing ability wasn't great, unable to heal something life-threatening or something as bad as their backs, but he could at least take away some of the pain and ensure there would be no infection setting in. Who knew what was in this cell, after all.

Her muscles loosened a bit as some of the pain left her. "Thank you," she whispered.

He managed to get to his knees and help her to the stone bed, where she laid down, head pillowed in her arms. "Aren't you going to heal yourself?"

Tuxedo Kamen smiled. "My body's doing that already, I just extended some of that extra healing to you so it could help you heal a little bit faster."

He ran his hand over her hair as she shook with sobs. "It hurts so much. I wouldn't have been able to survive it if you hadn't been there. I miss my Senshi."

"I miss my Knights," he agreed. "But we're both here together and we'll get out of here together. I have no doubt that they will come for us. After all, now they have a legitimate reason to work together, don't they?"

"We should work together to get out of here," she whispered, looking at him.

"I agree. For starters," He held out his hand, imitating a formal introduction, "I'm Chiba Mamoru."

Her eyes widened. "Chiba-san?"

He blinked as the light in her tiara flared a bit, allowing him to see beneath the glamour that protected who she was. "Tsukino-san?"

"Then the Knights?"

"Then the Senshi?"

They laughed a bit at the irony. "I wonder what will happen when they find out who they are?" she pondered.

"I wish I could be there," he agreed. "But I don't think we have to worry about our rescue. I think Venus and Kunzite will make absolutely sure we get back."

"What did Beryl mean? What do we not remember? I think it's a pretty big feat to remember that we're the Prince and Princess, don't you?"

"I have no idea what she was babbling about," he commented. "But I have a feeling it wasn't nonsense."

She looked up into his eyes and he couldn't tear his gaze away. It was the same as when he had first laid his sight on her. She was drawing him in, steadily down to the center of the universe, silently explaining things that could never be understood in a thousand lifetimes. 

He coughed a bit and looked away. She blushed slightly and gazed at her arms. 

"If I remember correctly, Metallia wants the Ginzuishou. Do you have it hidden?" he asked urgently.

She looked around, especially the small set of bars in the wooden prison door. Leaning in close and whispering, "It's in my subspace pocket with my wand."

"Can she access it at all?"

Sailor Moon shook her head. "Only a Senshi. So, theoretically, as Mercury constantly explains and I never get, a Senshi can grab my wand and the crystal from my subspace pocket through their own, since she thinks they're all connected seamlessly. Does that make any sense to you?"

He sighed in relief. "Perfectly."

"What about your Golden Crystal?"

He imitated her, looking around and dropping his voice. "It's much the same thing with the subspace pocket. It's inside my cane."

"You're cane? What can that thing do anyway?"

Tuxedo Kamen smiled. "Well, on one end, it can extend into a blade. On the other, it has a small compartment that I have hidden the…crystal in."

"Do you think we're being monitored through that crystal ball of hers?" she whispered, their faces inches apart.

His eyes were wary as he managed to look around without moving his head. "Doubtless."

"Can she hear what we just said?"

"I don't know. We can only hope she didn't."

"I'm going to try using my communicator."

"Don't bother. I already tried when you were still unconscious. We must be in an entirely different dimension because anything other than that and the Knights' communicators would normally work."

She sighed, deflated, and dropped her head back onto her arms.

He ran his hands comfortingly through her hair. "Let's get some sleep. Our bodies will heal faster."

"What if the youmas come back?"

"I'll watch out for them."

"But you need some sleep."

"When you wake up, I'll get some sleep while you watch."

"But I sleep so long…"

"I'll be fine," he assured her and she smiled, falling asleep almost instantly.

He painfully settled himself on his stomach on the other stone slab that served as beds and alternated between watching the door and Sailor Moon.

End Chapter 5


	6. Chapter 06: After Sunset

Author's Note:

The normal disclaimers here of course and that I'm certainly not doing this for money.

There are a few elements that are exclusive to the manga, as you will read, but those only involve character differences than from the anime, such as the Shitennous' relationship. Also, the Golden Crystal, which Mamoru has. 

If you need to contact me, my email is Guardian4@atlantic.net. Please put fanfiction or something in the subject line so I know what you're emailing me about. And if you're a really nice person (if this pertains to a certain fanfiction that I've done) you might want to put the name of the fanfiction you're referring to somewhere in the email.

All names are like the Japanese say them, last name first. So Kunzite's name would be Kail Rainer in America, but in Japanese it would be said Rainer Kail.

_Army of Immortals_

_Chapter 6: After Sunset_

Venus watched as Mercury stared intently at the screen of her visor, counting down the minutes with a silent mouth. She held up her hand and the other Senshi tensed, their fingers itching to release their powers, though unable to use the ones required by the weapons, such as the Venus Chain.

Mercury's hand dropped.

"Crescent Beam!" A beam of bright golden light flew from her finger. With three quick movements, she had sawed off the sides and top of the iron bars in front of them. It fell with a crash, alerting any other prisoners if they had not already been from her attack cry.

The four of them ran down the hallway, followed by constant shouts of either help or catcalls from other cells. Guards ran out of the offices in front of them, yelling at them to stop.

"Burning—"

"No!" Mercury grabbed her arm, her eyes near wild in panic. "They're human beings. We can't kill them!"

"Down here!" Venus commanded, ducking down a side corridor. 

She slammed full force into a well-muscled chest. The speed at which she was moving backwards made her to hit her Senshi, nearly causing a pileup on the ground.

"What the—"

"What are you doing?" demanded Kunzite. "We were going to head to the front of the building like we planned!"

Venus grabbed his arm and towed him down the hallway, screaming over the other inmates' voices. "The corridor leading out is nearly all filled with cops. There's no way we can go that way. We have to get out of here."

"No, first we need our weapons," gasped a Knight from somewhere behind her. "We'll be of no help to the Prince and Princess weaponless."

"Mercury?"

"We're running parallel to the room with our weapons," she recited from her computer and visor.

"We need an empty cell to blast a hole through," she muttered.

"The last cell on the right," the blue masked Knight yelled at her, forcing his voice to carry over the din of screaming.

She spotted it just as Kunzite called out, "Nephrite!"

"Meteor Storm!" the Knight in a burgundy mask called out as he slid to a stop near the last cell before the corridor turned. Meteors surrounded by fire flew from his palm and slammed through the bars and the stone wall.

Eight fighters swarmed through the hole, toward the table holding the weapons. Venus grabbed her Chain and twirled it around, calling out, "Venus Love-Me Chain!"

Heart shaped links swirled around the few police officers that had gotten their guns out. She yanked upward and they flew toward the ceiling. Someone grabbed her arm as she turned to run out the front door and she saw why. A veritable army of guards with guns pointed straight at her had placed themselves so strategically that unless they died, there was no way the Senshi and Knights were getting out that way.

Kunzite dragged her through the hole and they ran down the corridor that had turned. Booted feet and constant, 'Stop' trailed at their feet like a dog nipping at someone's heels.

"This is a dead end!" Mercury cried out as they reached the end with no more room to run and no other branching hallways in front of them. 

"We can't go back. There's too many of them!" Mars told her, risking a glance behind them.

"Jupiter!"

Kunzite and Venus in the lead moved aside to give her a clear shot. Venus didn't know how she did it on the run, but she got off a flawless shot.

"Sparkling Wide Pressure!"

The lightning bolt flew ahead of them and Venus and Kunzite took their lead again. A gaping hole was open before them and they were through it before the dust had even settled. 

"Do you know where the Hikawa Shrine up on Sendai Hill is?" Venus asked as they paused.

"Yes."

"Meet us there."

"Agreed."

The two groups, with a mutual good luck, separated and ran in different directions. Venus kept looking around them for tall buildings to leap upon, but there were none tall enough to be of any use to them.

"Hurry, they're gaining!" Mars cried.

"If they get any in police cars, we're caught and fried," commented Jupiter nervously.

"Mercury, get us out of here!" she demanded.

"I'm trying, but there's nothing that we can use!" responded the blue Senshi in panic.

"Bring up the entire city plans, I don't care! Just do something!"

Mars stumbled a bit, her breathing sounding harsh in Venus' ears. They needed to find somewhere to lose the police otherwise they would collapse. Even with the Senshi's endurance, it wouldn't be long before they were worn down.

"To the left!" Mercury cried out triumphantly.

They dodged into an alley and made the one leap that would take them to the top of the building. A glance down told them that the police hadn't the faintest idea where they had gone. But they would if they looked up, unless the Senshi moved.

Venus led the way to the Temple, her legs feeling like lead. The stairs nearly defeated her when she saw them. She and the other Soldiers were tired as death and all they wanted was to sleep.

"Do you see the Knights?" Jupiter asked as she looked around.

Kunzite melted from the shadows, followed by his comrades. Venus motioned for them to follow and knocked forcibly on the door. Mars' grandfather opened the door, his mouth falling open. In the background, they could hear the sound of a newscast announcer telling the people about the arrest of the Senshi and Knights.

"Sir, we need a place to rest. You said you would help us if we needed it."

Her formal words tipped him off and he said nothing about their identities. He nodded and led them to the backroom that no one but priests and priestesses could enter. As soon as the door closed behind them and Mars' grandfather left, the Senshi collapsed to their knees.

"What happened? We easily got rid of the police on our tail," the blue masked one told them.

"We weren't so lucky. We almost didn't lose them," Jupiter muttered.

"Let's get some rest. Then we can formulate a plan," Venus said tiredly then immediately dropped into sleep.

Kunzite and Venus crouched in opposing corners next to the door when Zoisite woke. Immediately his leader motioned for him to stay down and away from the paper and wood sliding door. He did, but accidentally waking Jadeite up as he moved. His friend sat up groggily and rubbed his head.

Venus motioned frantically and Zoisite grabbed him by the shoulders, dragging him from view so his shadow didn't make any pattern on the door, but it was too late judging by the loud voices coming toward them.

Mars, who had jumped to wakefulness when she heard the old man's voice, grabbed Nephrite's hand. Quietly she slid the door open and the eight of them slipped down the hall on soundless feet.

It nearly worked until they heard voices not only in back of them but in front too. Venus grabbed Mars' arm, obviously trying to give her an order without words. The black-haired Senshi, with a grimace, ducked them into a room and soundlessly slammed the door shut. 

Zoisite looked around, feeling an unusual amount of heat, and saw a blazing fire in the middle of the room surrounded by a 'cage' of wood. Amazingly, the wood was untouched and unmarred by flames.

"Get away from the door," hissed Kunzite.

On his toes, he slipped behind Sailor Mercury and yawned silently. The old man and someone else were moving toward the door. The shorter and older one shouting so loud that it was impossible not to hear what he was saying.

"I refuse to let you enter this room! None but a priest or priestess is aloud in the sacred Fire Reading room!" He placed himself in front of the two sliding doors.

"Look old man, we have a warrant to search this entire place. You do realize that the Sailor Senshi and Earthen Knights are loose and charged with first degree murder?"

Zoisite's eyes opened wide and locked with Mercury's in shock. First degree? They had not once ever planned to murder police officers, had no motive to. How could they possibly charge them with first degree murder?

 "I don't care if they're loose or what they're charged with! You can not enter this room!"

Another police officer came up and laid a hand on the tall man's shoulder. "Don't give the man a heart attack Kusangi. They probably aren't even here. We haven't found a single bit of evidence that they are. Let's just go."

"Fine! Let's go."

A moment later and the only body casting shadows over the paper and wood doors was the old priest, whose head turned to watch the police leave. When all the dust had settled, Mars opened the door slowly and managed to catch the old man as he fell backwards in a heap of robes. 

"Is he all right?" asked Mercury anxiously.

Slowly Mars nodded her head. "He's fine, except for being exhausted. It must have taken a toll on his heart."

The Senshi picked the old man up and brought him unerringly to his bedroom. 

"You've been here a number of times before, haven't you?" Kunzite asked shrewdly.

Venus looked at him as Mars covered the priest lovingly with a blanket. "Yes, this is a safe house I guess. We've come here a lot when we need help, a place to rest, or sanctuary from reporters."

"Now it's a sanctuary from the police," murmured Jadeite.

"No its not!" cried Mars lowly, being careful not to wake the old man. "It is not a place to hide from the police. We can't do this to him. We need somewhere else to go."

"The control center!" burst out Mercury. She blushed slightly when they all turned to her. "Luna and Artemis said it would be the last safe place if the world fell."

"She's right," Venus said at last. "We don't like the idea of you knowing about our base, but it has a number of advantages to moving there as a safe house. For one, we have a number of computers that we can begin to scan for the Prince and Princess. Mercury said that her computer just isn't strong enough to scan the whole of Japan and possible demon dimensions for them in the time we need. It also has the advantage that no one knows it exists though they're in front of the door more than fifty times a day."

"Hidden in plain sight, huh," commented Nephrite with a glance out the window and up to the shining constellations. "The stars say we should have adequate cover tonight, and that tonight will be the best opportunity to move should we wish to."

"That settles it then," Jupiter said, rather too enthusiastically for Zoisite's analytical brain.

The Knights followed them, unbelievably, to an arcade center by the look of the interior through the bars.

"So how do you plan to get us in?" Jadeite muttered, testing the bars. "I mean, we could break in, but I don't think that would be a wise move, considering we're wanted by the police for first degree murder."

"Easy," murmured Mercury and tapped on her computer.

From inside, a Sailor V video game turned on, the screen blinking almost erratically but in some sort of pattern. 

Slowly the bars in front of the door slid up. Zoisite approached the sliding glass doors, but they remained steadfastly shut. "What now?"

"Hold on, this isn't as fast as lightning," Jupiter told him with an elbow in his ribs.

"I take it you've done this before too?" Nephrite asked.

"When occasion demanded it, yes," Venus muttered, glancing around them nervously.

The game screen blinked some more and the doors slid open. "Inside quickly. I hear a police car," Jadeite said and led by example.

In seconds the door had closed and locked behind the eight warriors, the bars descending again. They hid behind various large game consoles as bright beams of white lighted up the interior of the game center. 

When there was a lull in the amount of cars and lights passing, Mercury tapped a code on the game keys and the entire console moved to the side, showing stairs descending down. The Senshi immediately went down, half crouching as they went. After a glance at their leader, the Knights followed.

End Chapter 6


	7. Chapter 07: Sanctuary

Author's Note:

The normal disclaimers here of course and that I'm certainly not doing this for money.

There are a few elements that are exclusive to the manga, as you will read, but those only involve character differences than from the anime, such as the Shitennous' relationship. Also, the Golden Crystal, which Mamoru has. 

If you need to contact me, my email is Guardian4@atlantic.net. Please put fanfiction or something in the subject line so I know what you're emailing me about. And if you're a really nice person (if this pertains to a certain fanfiction that I've done) you might want to put the name of the fanfiction you're referring to somewhere in the email.

All names are like the Japanese say them, last name first. So Kunzite's name would be Kail Rainer in America, but in Japanese it would be said Rainer Kail.

_Army of Immortals_

_Chapter 7: Sanctuary_

"So this is your control room?" Kunzite murmured, looking around in appreciation. 

There had to be at least twenty computers running and doing something different than another. Mercury walked up to one that dominated the room the most and plugged in her handheld. She typed for a few minutes and low beeping sounded, followed by other computers. She sat back with a long sigh. 

"All right, they're all scanning. It should only be an hour or so before it comes up with something, assuming there's something to _find_ here."

"You don't think they're here in Japan?" Zoisite asked, leaning down and looking at a screen.

"I have barely any doubt that she isn't even on Earth," she said and swiveled back to the main computer monitor.

He walked up behind her and gazed over her shoulder. "Considering the evidence, I agree with you."

Nephrite leaned back against a desk. "Damn, and I had wanted a date tonight too."

"Mercury, we should call Luna and Artemis," Mars said before turning to him. "Who were you going with?"

He looked skeptical at continuing.

"Oh come on, it's not like we're going to harass her or anything. We probably don't even know her."

"Well, I don't know her that well, but she's gorgeous for one. I just met her recently, but already I know that I really like her. I had wanted to ask her out, had even planned to do it, but then Beryl interrupted and I forgot about it. Besides, right now I'd guess she wouldn't want to date a criminal."

"She doesn't know that you're an Earthen Knight, she doesn't know you're a criminal. And we aren't criminals anyway! Is it a crime to protect the Earth?"

"I would hope not," Jadeite murmured.

"How about the rest of you? What would you be doing tonight if we weren't wanted criminals and looking for Endymion and Serenity?" questioned Jupiter. 

"Well, we all kinda hoped to be out on a separate dates," the short blonde said with a sigh. 

"What are they like?"

"Like Nephrite said, we don't know them all that well, but that would be partly the reason we wanted to have a date or two with them. They're all gorgeous, but not as gorgeous as—"

"Oh drop that," Zoisite said with annoyance. "She isn't as gorgeous as—"

"What are you all talking about?" Nephrite interrupted, getting into the heat of the argument. "They don't hold a candle to—"

The Senshi watched with raised eyebrows as Kunzite whistled harshly, effectively ending their bickering.

"Stop fighting, this the end of the argument, understand? Besides, they don't even come close to—"

His friends groaned and muttered, ignoring him. Kunzite grinned and chuckled softly. 

"What did you girls hope to do this weekend?" Jadeite asked with interest.

"Oddly enough, we had hoped to be going on dates as well," Venus said, a constant presence over Mercury's shoulder.

"Hey, since you were hoping for a date, and so were we, why don't we go out on a date?" joked Jadeite, turning to Mars. "How about seven tonight?"

She laughed a little, that she tried to hide, and attempted to kick him. He dodged, with reflexes born of dodging the thunks he got for his jokes from his friends.

"Do you have any idea when they might finish scanning?" Nephrite asked.

"Not really," was the disappointing answer.

"What are we supposed to do now?"

"Wait."

"Damn!" He slammed his fist into his palm. "I hate just sitting here, doing practically nothing! And I can't go out and consult the stars because of all the police out there, looking for us!"

"Calm down, Nephrite," Kunzite told him, a little disturbed to the extent of what his friend was feeling. He had never liked waiting much either, but he had learned to accept it as part of a warrior's job description. It came like a mantle, part of the leadership role, to know when to wait, when to charge, and when to run like hell.

"How can you tell me to calm down, Kunzite?! You should be in even worse shape than me!"

"He probably is, you just can't see it. That's the role of a leader," Sailor Venus responded, accurately describing his feelings and what had to be. She straightened from over Mercury's shoulder and gazed straight into Nephrite's eyes, something not many people could bring themselves to do.

Nephrite's eyes were a strange case. Because of all the time he spent at night staring up at the stars and absorbing all they had to tell him, he was somewhat light sensitive, though not to the point that he lived hindered, or prevented from going out in the daylight. Always, his pupils were wide to allow in the most light, something that only happened when there was little light to the see by and the eyes had to compensate for the lack. 

"The role of a leader is a hard one to explain, but easy to understand," that strange but enticing warrior continued. "A leader is one who is always early and always late, someone who stays after all has gone home, someone who still clings onto hope when all have given up and force others to cling onto hope as well. They are the protectors, they are strategists. They don't have the luxury of emotions because they exist partly to bolster their troupes, keep them from losing faith, make them believe again. We think in patterns, in the whole picture and implications of an act. We are the first to go and the last to come back. How else can I explain it other than that?"

But Nephrite was nodding, as if he understood, which Kunzite was glad for as he felt his words failing him when he thought about trying to describe leadership.

"You called out 'Brother' when Endymion was taken," Jupiter murmured curiously, sitting down backwards in a chair next to Mars. "What kind of brother?"

"In the Silver Millennium, we were half-brothers. My mother, the Queen, had a brief but meaningful affair with a Lunarian, which resulted in me. She married a few years later to Endymion's father, a King from another country for alliance purposes."

"Does Endymion know?"

"Yes and no."

"You mean he knew in the Silver Millennium, but not now?" she hazarded a guess.

"No, I mean I never knew if he ever figured it out. Some days he acted like he knew, but then others he seemed completely clueless. Either way, though, we were as close as could be, and whether I was only a half-brother or not didn't matter."

"That's the truth," Jadeite corroborated with a long, heartfelt sigh. "When Nephrite, Zoisite, and I met them, our first impression was that we were intruding upon a sacred universe, they were that close. They shared everything together, no secrets, and it was like we were outsiders for the first part of our acquaintance."

"What happened?" Mercury asked, intrigued despite herself, Kunzite guessed from the reserved but interested look on her face.

Zoisite continued on with the story, his eyes going faraway as he was lost in a memory of a time long past, even in the Silver Millennium. "Well, it was a few months before they learned to trust us, but when they did, it was like opening an ivory gate studded with topazes and sapphires. As soon as we were through, into their 'inner circle', they closed the gate behind us. Within the next few days, we were all the best of friends and inseparable, as well as a nightmare to everyone in the palace with our boyish games. Even when we grew up and our tastes began to differ, we remained together, fighting to have time for just us among our new hobbies and duties."

Nephrite nodded stared at the wall, as if he wasn't seeing it, picking up the last part of the story as Zoisite stopped. "When we were thirteen or so, the Queen told us that we were chosen to be Endymion's personal guard, as she was afraid that he would be targeted by assassins since he was the crown prince. It was no big thing. The five of us had been training together since we were old enough to hold a sword, and though it involved a bit more rigorous physical schedule, nothing had changed. If anything, it worked for us since it would mean we would all be together, until one of us died that is. Endymion was thrilled with the idea, and the Monarchs liked it because there was no chance of any of us being spies or assassins after their son's throat."

"How did Kunzite become the leader? Or was he chosen just because he knew Endymion the longest?" questioned Mars, a curious glint in her eyes.

"He's the leader because…It's like what Venus said," Jadeite struggled with words, "He's the leader because he is one. He was just that hair better than us at everything, so that's what he was. Besides, we'd always had him as the unofficial leader of our group next to Endymion. It went like this: Endymion got us in trouble, Kunzite got us out of trouble."

The Senshi giggled a bit at that. "That's basically the opposite here," Jupiter said with a smile on her face. "Venus and Serenity used to get us into trouble and Mercury would have to bail us out."

"I remember."

Mercury's dry voice only set them laughing. A moment later, the stern look capitulated and she laughed with them.

Smiles disappeared, though, as they recalled that they really had no reason to be happy when Serenity and Endymion were trapped somewhere, enduring only the gods knew what.

In the silence, they heard the clattering of the bars rising up above them. Footsteps sounded and whistling. Then a voice.

"Hello, kitty. Where's Usagi-chan? She's usually with you. Oh well, I'll get you some milk. You seem to have brought a friend. Who is the white cat? Your boyfriend?" he laughed at his own joke, for the voice was undeniably male.

Kunzite glanced at the other warriors in the room. His Knights were alert, wary and waiting. The Senshi seemed slightly nervous, but a lot more relaxed than they were. He frowned a little at that, but reasoned that this must not be a new development.

Quietly, after the man had said a few more words to the cats, the video game door slid open a slight crack and two entered. It was back in place in the next moment and the felines trotted down the steep stairs. 

"Senshi, this is a grave situation," the black one said without preamble. Kunzite barely twitched an eyebrow at a talking cat. The cats of Mau found themselves to be highly valued as wise and great advisors, also having the ability to change between feline and human form. Also well known was that the Moon Kingdom had had two of the wisest ambassadors, skilled in fencing in battle and the courtrooms. It was not a surprise to see them assisting the Senshi. But why would this girl, Usagi, be a guardian of one of them? Should they not be with one of the Senshi?

"We must retrieve the Prince and Princess from Beryl's clutches at all costs," said the white one, barely giving the black one a chance to breathe before he had interrupted. "We have no idea how long it will take her to figure out that she had the Ginzuishou and Golden Crystal in her grasp already. We can only hope that she will assume that for safe keeping, another has it in case of this eventuality."

"You seem just as concerned about the Prince, but I'm given to understand that Lunarians and other planet members of the Silver System Alliance don't care all that much about Terrans," Zoisite murmured.

"That was a long time ago, one that has passed and with it, old prejudices," Venus whispered. "We were wrong then, to not allow Earth into the SSA. Now the planets of the SSA ruined utterly, my home among them. We Senshi were reborn on Earth and now we're fighting to save this planet from our blind-sighted mistake that cost us more than we could pay. Do you doubt that?"

"No," Kunzite told her, "but I do wonder why this extends to the Prince and his contingent."

"Because he may be the only one that can save the Earth," Mercury said from her quiet position behind Venus.

"What do you mean?" prompted Jadeite, confusion written on his face as clear as day.

It was the black cat who answered. "Even Serenity, even with the Ginzuishou, it is not a certainty that she can save the Earth. She wasn't originally Terran, but Lunarian. That blood must still be born strong in her again; otherwise she wouldn't be able to use the Crystal at all. Since Endymion is Terran, then and now, with his Golden Crystal he may be the only hope we have to force Beryl out of the Earth and destroy her and Metallia."

"Put like that, I can see your point," Nephrite murmured. "But even that isn't a certainty. Endymion, in this new life, knows practically nothing about the Golden Crystal. His memories, like ours, are very sketchy when it comes to the Silver Millennium. The only thing that isn't just a vague fog is the memories of us, together. He may not be able to use the full powers of the Golden Crystal, and in that case, us and the Earth is screwed."

"You must understand something about the Golden Crystal," Zoisite said urgently, "Many of the Terran Kings studied it over the years and came to one solid conclusion: there is a safe-guard in the magic, built when it was created, however that was. It isn't like the Ginzuishou, where you can use the full power anyway, but the user might die. If you don't have the full knowledge of how it works, you can't access the full powers that it has. It's a safeguard to keep the user alive. Endymion can't remember the Silver Millennium, so he can't remember all that he was taught about it. In this life, he's going to have to fumble around and figure out as he goes, throughout the years."

"That's unfortunate," the white cat muttered.

"Do you think that with Endymion's half control with his close connection to Earth and Serenity with a little more than half control of the Ginzuishou could combine and shove Beryl from the Earth?" Mars asked half wistfully, as if she didn't really expect it could work.

"It could, but they would need to be on much better terms than almost total strangers," Mercury told her. "There has to be a close connection between them for the magic to even begin to bond between the two. And that would only be half the work."

The computer began to beep behind Mercury and they turned toward it, instantly alert. 

In big flashing letters, the words "NOT FOUND" stifled any hopes they had.

End Chapter 7


	8. Chapter 08: Fighting Spirit

Author's Note:

The normal disclaimers here of course and that I'm certainly not doing this for money.

There are a few elements that are exclusive to the manga, as you will read, but those only involve character differences than from the anime, such as the Shitennous' relationship. Also, the Golden Crystal, which Mamoru has. 

If you need to contact me, my email is Guardian4@atlantic.net. Please put fanfiction or something in the subject line so I know what you're emailing me about. And if you're a really nice person (if this pertains to a certain fanfiction that I've done) you might want to put the name of the fanfiction you're referring to somewhere in the email.

All names are like the Japanese say them, last name first. So Kunzite's name would be Kail Rainer in America, but in Japanese it would be said Rainer Kail.

_Army of Immortals_

_Chapter 8: Fighting Spirit_

He held her as she shuddered, trying to control her pain. Another day and night of torture. Not since that first night in the throne room were they together when Beryl tried to get information out of them. Because of it, they could not give each other comfort, but he had told her that the memory of her was enough to keep him going through it all. She had blushed, then, and responded that it was the same for her.

Mamoru could barely believe it, how it could happen. How could love blossom in a dark and painful place as this? It was something he couldn't understand, but the feelings were there all the same. He loved this warrior, this Sailor Senshi, in a way that he hadn't ever felt for any other girlfriend that he had before. How had it started? When had it started?

When he had first met her, when her eyes had first connected to his. Something had happened, then, that he was sure they both felt. But he didn't know what the something was. That locking of eyes, though, had started it all. 

It wasn't as if he loved her on sight, nor that he only loved her because she was the only non-evil creature besides himself in this place. No, it had taken a lot of nights talking about themselves to keep their minds from the pain. They knew each other's likes and dislikes intimately; things they hated and things they loved.

He had found himself describing in-depth all about his friends, how he had met them and how they had all come about to be a group. 

"Tell me about them again," she pleaded, breaking into his thoughts.

"But Sailor Moon, I've told you about them at least five times already," he protested.

They never referred to themselves as anything other than 'Sailor Moon' or 'Tuxedo Kamen'. It was a precaution in case there were spies about, but it was enough that they knew who they were in their minds.

"But it's so funny, listening to how you all got along at first."

Mamoru sighed, knowing there was nothing that he could deny her. "Very well. I met Nephrite first, after he had warned me away from a girl that had just asked me out. I had told her I would think about it and he had come up to me just after she had left, telling me that I would beware of her. I was hesitant to heed to this man's advice since I didn't know him and he could be a jealous ex-boyfriend. But I looked into his eyes and trusted him. Not many can do that, earn my trust as easily as all that, but he did. So I politely turned her down the next day. I had never been so happy that I did, with how she acted. She threw a fit, like a child, and demanded me to rethink my decision. I don't work well in that kind of relationship, so I was glad I listened. After that day, I went looking for him again. We became great friends, went everywhere together."

She giggled a bit. "Who was next to your group?"

He smiled, thinking about it. "Believe it or not, though you know, it was Zoisite. At first glance, he seems to be all pretty-boyish. Everyone had always assumed that he was gay, but it wasn't true. He had stumbled to Nephrite one day, dropping his load of advanced chemistry, calculus, and engineering books right on his feet. Those books are lethal, let me tell, and it hurt to have them dropped full force on your feet. It didn't endear him to Nephrite at first, but when Zoisite offered to buy him lunch to make it up to him, he agreed. Nephrite, in all the time I had known him, never turned down a free meal. He regretted it, though, when all next day they asked him if he was dating Zoisite. When he confronted Zoi about it, the man nearly burst into tears, having heard it too much. I think it must have worn on his nerves through the many years of being assumed he was gay. He told us that he just hadn't found a girl he liked yet. That's how he became the third member of our group. Only when you've known him you can see that he isn't as girlish as he might seem to the passing eye. He's got quite a bit of muscle on him, more so now when we became the Earthen Knights."

"What about Kunzite and Jadeite?"

"Those two came at the same time. Jadeite was lost, just transferring in, and had commissioned Kunzite to show him around. It wasn't as if he had asked, he had basically told him that he was going to show him around. Kunzite said he was so amused by his attitude that he had agreed without thinking about it. Unfortunately, neither knew the school that well. They ended up bumping into me, waiting for Nephrite and Zoisite in the hallway. I found myself becoming their friend and introducing them to the other two. We became the five-some after that. Our friendship lasted through the years and numerous hard times, and still it survived. So we pretty much guessed that it was meant to be, our group."

She sighed into his chest. "I didn't know the Senshi for as long as you have. I've only known them for about a few months."

"If we ever get out of here, you'll have a few years to test your bonds and see if your group was 'meant to be' like ours was."

"That still leaves if we get out of here."

"I have no doubt we will."

Her eyes stared at him beseechingly. "I promise," he told her to her unspoken question.

His lips hovered near hers, questioningly. She touched them with hers and he knew it was forever. He could never let her go, never let her leave him. Without her, he was nothing. 

It lasted for no more than a few seconds, but it was enough that he knew she felt it to. She smiled at him and it was enough.

End Chapter 8


	9. Chapter 09: Amongst Heroes

Author's Note:

The normal disclaimers here of course and that I'm certainly not doing this for money.

There are a few elements that are exclusive to the manga, as you will read, but those only involve character differences than from the anime, such as the Shitennous' relationship. Also, the Golden Crystal, which Mamoru has. 

If you need to contact me, my email is Guardian4@atlantic.net. Please put fanfiction or something in the subject line so I know what you're emailing me about. And if you're a really nice person (if this pertains to a certain fanfiction that I've done) you might want to put the name of the fanfiction you're referring to somewhere in the email.

All names are like the Japanese say them, last name first. So Kunzite's name would be Kail Rainer in America, but in Japanese it would be said Rainer Kail.

_Army of Immortals_

_Chapter 9: Amongst Heroes_

Venus wanted to scream, cry, something to let out the emotions welling inside of her. She missed Usagi terribly; it hurt so bad that she was afraid the pain would consume her. She didn't know if anyone had ever felt this way about anyone, but it wasn't just emotional pain. Her absence was like someone was ripping shreds of her body, delighting in her torment. How could she have allowed this to happen? As the leader of Serenity's guard, she should have protected her better! She should have kept her from Beryl's grasp! 

Kunzite touched her shoulder and she turned to him. He motioned towards the stairs and she followed him, listening to the debating voices of where to go next now that they were sure that the princess and prince were not in Japan anymore.

They entered the dark arcade, lit only by passing cars' headlights. Venus wished she could be in one of those cars and drive away from any danger with her friends seated next to her. She just wanted to have the princess and her Senshi in a car, so she could drive them away to a secluded place where the five of them could live their lives without ever having to worry about if someone was going to die in the next battle. 

"Tormenting isn't it?" he commented quietly.

"Yes."

"Does it do any good to dwell on it?"

"No."

"But we can't stop."

"Yes."

His grin was a little rueful. "That's what I keep telling myself, but I can't stop beating myself up about my failure to protect him. I just wish he wasn't involved in this. I wish…that we could just leave here, go to a place that Beryl and Metallia could never find us."

She was a bit startled to hear her nearly exact thoughts coming out of his mouth. "I know, I thought it too."

"What would happen if we did?"

Venus turned to him, unsure what he was asking. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, what would happen if we got the Prince and Princess back and then we left, hiding somewhere where we could never be found?"

One look at his face and she knew he was serious. He was not asking in jest, or in a wistful fashion. He was looking as if he was seriously considering taking his Prince and friends and high-tailing himself out of there. "Where would you go? Beryl would find you."

"There is a place I know of that even she cannot reach. It would be easy enough to go there."

"Kunzite, what are you saying? You would abandon the people of the Earth to Beryl and Metallia's mercy? You know that Endymion would never leave."

"It would not matter if he would leave or not. Four against one can easily overcome. We would drag him away."

She slapped him hard. He barely flinched, not even turning his head to soften the blow. "Earthen Knight Kunzite, I have never heard something that hateful come out of any mouth yet and if you ever say that again, I will run you through with my sword!"

"Why? You just said yourself that that's what you want to do with Serenity and your friends!" he demanded, getting angry.

"Yes, that's what I _want to do, but not what I __need to do! Just because I want something doesn't make it right! It doesn't make it okay to leave the people of the Earth defenseless against Beryl and Metallia's might. And nowhere you can take Endymion will be forever untainted or unfound by her once she had control of the Earth! My princess would never be happy if I just secreted her away and she knew we were running! She would demand that we return and help the people! And I can deny her nothing. Think about Endymion. Would he not say the same? And would you not follow him to the depths of hell and back simply because he asked?"_

His mouth fell into a grim line and he closed his eyes, as if in pain. "You're right. I was being foolish."

She softened at his defeated tone and touched his cheek with her gloved hand. "Kunzite, just because you wanted to save Endymion and your friends doesn't mean you were foolish. It shows how much you care about them," she told him quietly. Slowly his eyes met hers, the pained look gradually receding. "I cannot tell you how many times I seriously thought about that myself, but never once had I found a way to go through with it that would not leave the Earth defenseless or my Princess unhappy. Her happiness is all that matters to me right now, as Endymion's matters to you."

He smiled at her a little. "No wonder your Senshi look up to you."

Venus blushed.

Kunzite traced a slow finger along her jaw and over her lips. "So beautiful, so full of wisdom. You are what I could never hope to be."

Her entire face was turning red, something that hadn't happened in a long while. She tried to find something to say, but nothing came to mind, not with the way he was touching her face and his compliments. She just wished that he would kiss her already.

His hand ran through her hair, softly that she barely felt it. She finally looked up at him and saw some indefinable emotion in his eyes. Not one boy that she had dated _ever looked at her like that and she found herself wanting to be always looked at like that. _

So slowly that she wanted to scream, his lips descended until they were just hovering above hers. Their breath mingled, their eyes unable to leave each others. She hesitantly wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders, tilting her head up to him. It was the final offer.

He took it. It felt like sunshine, and hot like fire. She couldn't help but compare this kiss to the last one she had had, with her latest ex-boyfriend. His had been like ice, cold and shivering with no warmth in his heart for her. But this…!

His arms circled her waist, pulling her closer to him. There was nothing in the world that made her want to move from the safety that those arms promised her. They promised her love, safety, hope. All those things that she had never envisioned could come for her from any arms except her Princess'. 

The smallest of noises drew them apart, gasping for breath. Kunzite's eyes were molten silver and green, swirling forever in her depths. She would never forget those eyes, not if she was stripped of everything that made her different from another human being. 

"Venus, I—"

She held up her hand, listening intently. There was still something there that had made that small noise. He noticed too and stood up straight, his eyes roving through all the game machines as if they weren't even there.

They split and melted into the shadows, waiting to see if their disappearance would draw the thing that had made the noise out into the open. It slowly came out, forming into a human shape. Hesitantly, the human shape stepped forward into the light and she nearly gasped. Motoki! She went through the entire conversation, wondering if she had let slip who they were. Coming to the conclusion that she hadn't, she moved stealthily behind him. What was he doing here so late anyway?

The arcade boy walked a little further into the center of the room, his eyes trying to find where they were. Even she didn't know where Kunzite was exactly. She pounced, hoping Kunzite would follow her lead.

Effortlessly twisting his arm up behind him, she brought him to his knees. She didn't like doing this to someone who was basically her friend, but it was necessary to keep that hidden and act like she didn't know who he was.

The leader of the Earthen Kings shed the shadows with the ease of someone shedding a jacket, he was that good at it. She gave him silent approval with her eyes, something he caught and responded to with the slightest of smiles.

Motoki whimpered a bit in pain and that brought her attention back to him. "Who are you?"

"My name's Motoki; I work here."

"It's rather late, Motoki-san," Kunzite said, his tone icy. "What are you doing here, spying on the Sailor Senshi and Earthen Knights? Were you going to turn us into the police?"

"Absolutely not! You guys protect the Earth! Without you those strange creatures would overrun us! And I don't believe you killed those police officers. Many people I know feel the same way about you. There was a lot of unrest among the citizens when they charged you with murder and tried to convict you."

She let him up. "That doesn't explain what you're doing here."

"Some of the machines needed work and I stayed to fix them. I was just about to leave when I saw the Sailor V video game move and slide out, and seeing a Senshi and Knight come out." He looked rather sheepish. "I guess I was just curious, so I stayed hidden."

Kunzite and Venus walked a little away from him to confer. 

"What do you think?"

"Well I do know him," she whispered back, "but not in this form. I doubt he would have turned us in anyway. He does work here and his story is probably legit. As long as we tell him to never mention us, I don't think there will be a problem."

"But what if he mentions by accident?"

"That's just a chance we have to take. We can't exactly wipe his memory, though I wish we could."

"Yeah, but that would be convenient for us and Fate doesn't work that way."

She smiled and giggled a little before getting serious and returning to Motoki. "We will allow you to leave, but you must never under any circumstances mention to anyone what you saw tonight or that we're even here."

He nodded and left the building, always keeping his eyes on them as if he was afraid they weren't  there and he was crazy. 

"Takes care of that," Kunzite murmured. 

"So what were you saying before?"

"Huh?" He thought and then smiled, taking her face in one of his hands. "Venus,  you were right. If we beat Beryl, then Endymion and my friends will be safe again. I wasn't thinking things through." He paused. "I know we haven't known each other all that long, but I know that I've never felt that way before when I kissed you. When this is all over, do you think there's a chance for 'us'?"

Venus had never once seen or heard anything like it before. She held him tightly to her. "I think there's a chance for 'us' right now, even though the Prince and Princess are in danger. I think this will work."

"Venus…"

"Have you two worked out whatever it is you went to work out?" Mars asked as they returned to the control center. 

They shared a secret glance. "Yes," Venus told her as she walked up behind Mercury.

Suspicious glances sent their way by their comrades, but both affected not to notice. "Mercury, I have an idea."

"What?"

"Okay, it is unlikely that Beryl has taken them to another country, but entirely plausible that she took them to her dimension, right?"

"Right."

"Well, instead of searching for them, can you search for an anomaly on the Earth? Something that could be a dormant portal. I doubt she can hide them completely without staying in her sealed dimension forever, not if she didn't want to come back to Earth."

"Good idea, Venus," Artemis said, mulling it over. "It gives us a better grasp, and a better chance since Beryl could be blocking the scanning power easily or without even knowing about it."

"Supposing we find this portal," Jadeite began, "what do we do about it? I mean, it's all well and good to say we just go in and rescue them, but we're going to need a plan."

"Jadeite is right," Venus murmured, thinking. "We should probably pair off."

"Yeah, but if each of us picks who we want to pair off with, it leaves us one-sided," Zoisite said unhappily. "If I had my choice, for example, I would go with Mercury, but that is a hindrance since you wouldn't want your best technicians in one group. You'd want to spread out the special abilities that people have."

"Zoisite's right about that," Jupiter said matter-of-factly. "I mean, I would probably need to go with someone like Mercury to protect her, be the muscle of the team."

"We're going to put one Knight and one Senshi in a group," Kunzite told them, thinking aloud. "It makes it more efficient that way. Besides, if a group of two Senshi find them, Endymion might thing twice about joining them. He may not be in a position to trust them."

"Agreed," Nephrite said at last. "That is more economical."

"This is all assuming that we find an anomaly and that it turns out to be a portal," Luna said, dampening their spirits somewhat.

"What are we going to tell our parents?" whispered Mercury to Venus. "We've been gone for nearly four days without so much as a word. And what about Serenity's parents? What do we tell them?"

"Yes, parents are a problem," Kunzite said grimly. "If we do find an anomaly, then we'll be leaving and may not return for the next few days or perhaps even weeks. And not only parents, but school as well."

Mercury gasped. "School! I hadn't thought of that! I might get so behind!"

"Are you worried about your grades or Serenity?" Mars snapped.

"How can you ask her that?" Jadeite rebuffed her, surprised. "I would think you would trust your teammates more to know who they care about."

She looked down in shame. "I know, but I feel so frustrated. I didn't mean that, Mercury."

"I know."

A beeping sounded behind the blue Senshi and she turned. "YES!" she crowed and nearly hugged the computer. "It found something!"

She tapped on the keys, bringing up a number of maps and zooming in on various places, most in Japan. They crowded around her. She pointed to illustrate her words better and switched often to type or give a command to the computer. "You see these ones in Japan? Those are all the locations that Beryl has sent youma through before. I've recorded the areas in my computer."

Mercury typed again for a moment. "There is only one other location on Earth that has an anomaly like we're looking for. Up in the North Pole, right over that huge crater that scientists assumed a meteor made hundreds and thousands of years ago, is the anomaly."

"It certainly has all the earmarks of Beryl," Nephrite muttered. "I'm going to have to take a risk and consult the stars."

Venus locked eyes with Mars. She nodded. "We'll let Mars meditate; she might be able to see something."

"You psychic or something?" Jadeite asked, a smile on his face.

"Yes."

He blinked. "Really? Neat. That must be an incredible asset to the team. All we got is Nephy here and he only reads the stars. From the information we get from, we can guess that they aren't all that forthcoming with info."

She gave him a small smile. "Well, other forces aren't as forthcoming with info either."

"Look, Jupiter you go with Nephrite when he checks the stars," Venus said at last. "You can watch out for cops and people and whatnot and let him know if the two of you need to leave pronto. Jadeite you can go with Mars since you have good, sharp vision to use a bow and can easily spot incoming threats. The rest of us will wait in the control center for them and try to think up an excuse for our parents and the school system."

Mars nodded and left the room, Jadeite following and chattering every now and then. Nephrite closed his eyes briefly, obviously centering himself and quietly slipped from the arcade center, Jupiter alertly trailing behind.

End Chapter 9


	10. Chapter 10: Don't Let Go

Author's Note:

The normal disclaimers here of course and that I'm certainly not doing this for money.

There are a few elements that are exclusive to the manga, as you will read, but those only involve character differences than from the anime, such as the Shitennous' relationship. Also, the Golden Crystal, which Mamoru has. 

If you need to contact me, my email is Guardian4@atlantic.net. Please put fanfiction or something in the subject line so I know what you're emailing me about. And if you're a really nice person (if this pertains to a certain fanfiction that I've done) you might want to put the name of the fanfiction you're referring to somewhere in the email.

All names are like the Japanese say them, last name first. So Kunzite's name would be Kail Rainer in America, but in Japanese it would be said Rainer Kail.

_Army of Immortals_

_Chapter 10: Don't Let Go_

Nephrite felt his soul wanting to rip apart. Tears threatened at his self control and he kept his back carefully to the Soldier behind him. The rain that had thundered ominously when they had left the Arcade Center finally made its appearance. Cold water ran down his cheeks, masking his tears.

His brain screamed failure. Mamoru had trusted him, to protect him. How could he allow himself to fall short when he was truly tested? If he could do it over again, he would and this time he wouldn't fail. Mamoru was more than a prince, more than a superhero, to him. He was his friend, someone who he had taken a chance to get to know. In his heart, the day Mamoru had been asked out that long day past, it would have been a mistake.

He glanced behind him slightly to see Jupiter looking up at the sky with her back to him. Her face was a mask of awe and happiness as the water caressed her face. He wanted to touch her, like the rain having that pleasure. But even the contentment that he felt around her failed to make him feel better about Mamoru's disappearance.

Song drifted on the wind from some house down the street and he smiled at the irony of the words.

I can't believe this moment's come   
It's so incredible that we're alone   
There's so much to be said and done   
It's impossible not to be overcome   
  


Mamoru flashed through his head again and his shoulders shook a little. He strained to see through the rain clouds and to the stars. They winked back at him, lovingly like a parent and calming him slightly. It was almost as if they felt sorry for him that they gave him more information than they had ever told him before.

Will you forgive me if I feel this way   
Cause we've just met - tell me that's OK   
So take this feeling; make it grow   
Never let it - never let it go   
  


He saw Endymion and Mamoru back to back and smiling at him, as if they forgave him for his failure. Princess Serenity, with her back to another shadowy figure that looked like her, stood beside him, smiling, as if they knew he had made himself a vow to get them back. They told him more, but nothing more was as important to him at that moment.

(Don't let go of the things you believe in)   
You give me something that I can believe in   
(Don't let go of this moment in time)   
Go of this moment in time   
(Don't let go of things that you're feeling)   
I can't explain the things that I'm feeling   
(Don't let go)   
No, I won't let go

Though tears still tracked down his cheeks, his leaden spirit lifted. He wouldn't let go of what was still waiting for him: Mamoru.

Now would you mind if I bared my soul   
If I came right out and said you're beautiful   
Cause there's something here I can't explain   
I feel I'm diving into driving rain   
  


You get my senses running wild   
I can't resist your sweet, sweet smile   
So take this feeling; make it grow   
Never let it - never let it go   
  
(Don't let go of the things you believe in)   
You give me something that I can believe in   
(Don't let go of this moment in time)   
Go of this moment in time   
(Don't let go of things that you're feeling)   
I can't explain the things that I'm feeling   
(Don't let go)   
No, I won't let go

A gloved hand touched his shoulder and he slowly turned to see the sympathetic and equally tear-stained face of the Jovian Senshi. He wrapped an arm around her waist, her head falling somewhere a tad short of his ear. She was quite tall, but he didn't mind in the least. He wouldn't let go of Mamoru and he wouldn't let go of Jupiter.

I've been waiting all my life   
To make this moment feel so right   
The feel of you just fills the night   
So c'mon - just hold on tight

"I love you, Nephrite," she whispered.

Though they'd only known each other for a week, it didn't surprise him how much he cared for her. His love would save his friend and this woman who marveled him in ways he could never understand. 

"I love you too, Jupiter."

(Don't let go of the things you believe in)   
You give me something that I can believe in   
(Don't let go of this moment in time)   
Go of this moment in time   
(Don't let go of things that you're feeling)   
I can't explain the things that I'm feeling   
(Don't let go)   
No, I won't let go

He would not give in to the despair that Beryl wanted to kill him with because there was always hope. As long as he still breathed, there was hope. Between the eight of them, they would be able to get Mamoru and Sailor Moon back.

As they turned to go, she asked, "What did the stars tell you?"

Nephrite looked down at her. His face dipped within an inch of hers and his voice whispered, "Don't let go."

End Chapter 10

I know this was really short, but the chapter had a mood and that mood ended with the chapter. I named the chapter after the song in it: Don't Let Go by Bryan Adams (duet with Sarah McLachlan).

I was listening to this song when I wrote it and thought 'what a perfect song'. Even though the tune sounded sad, it was about hope and not letting go of something. It not only suits the relationship between Jupiter and Nephrite, but also how Nephrite feels about Mamoru.

It's a very pretty song. Standard disclaimers here (I don't own Sailor Moon, the song, or any other things you can think of that has licenses).


	11. Chapter 11: Distant Call

Author's Note:

The normal disclaimers here of course and that I'm certainly not doing this for money.

There are a few elements that are exclusive to the manga, as you will read, but those only involve character differences than from the anime, such as the Shitennous' relationship. Also, Mamoru has the Golden Crystal. 

If you need to contact me, my email is Guardian4@atlantic.net. Please put fanfiction or something in the subject line so I know what you're emailing me about. And if you're a really nice person (if this pertains to a certain fanfiction that I've done) you might want to put the name of the fanfiction you're referring to somewhere in the email.

All names are like the Japanese say them, last name first. So Kunzite's name would be Kail Rainer in America, but in Japanese it would be said Rainer Kail.

_Army of Immortals_

_Chapter 11: Distant Call_

Mars, after checking on her grandfather, knelt before the fire in the ever-unmarred grate. Slowly she called upon the calm that she knew was inside her, though hardly ever made its appearance. She could feel Jadeite behind her, shifting slightly when he couldn't stay still in one position anymore. He was obviously trying to remain silent and motionless so as not to distract her. She smiled involuntarily at his thoughtfulness, though it wasn't necessary. Once she had activated the link between herself and the flames, she wouldn't know he was there at all, whether he made any noise or not.

Her eyes slowly dimmed from outside awareness as her essence spiraled down, deep into the heat that was her element. A slow but gradual lightening filled her vision and she wanted to cover her sight, in case it got so bright it hurt. She didn't see any vision; instead, something formed before.

She nearly gasped. A Fire Sprite! Messengers from the gods to those who were partial to fire flitted in front of her, as if it couldn't bear to stay in one spot for more than a millisecond.

"Busy, haven't you all been? This is the second time the Powers That Be have answered to specially gifted mortals," it said, rather amused at her shock.

It resembled the upper body of a human, with two arms and a head though not being female or male, but the bottom half of it was simply fire, similar to an inverted tornado. She felt surrounded by fire, but as if it was a bubble for her and the Sprite in front of her.

"What do you want to know?"

Mars shifted a little in nervousness. "Is Serenity—"

"She doesn't blame you. This seems to be a common worry. The Stars' Child was worried that the man, Endymion, blamed him for his capture as well."

The only problem with the Sprites, Mars thought, was that it had no concept of human emotions. While the gods and Powers That Be did, to some extent, the Sprites always amused by the emotions but never understood them.

"Is it safe to rescue Serenity and Endymion now?"

It knew she was referring to the anomaly in the North Pole. "It is safe to go through; there is no trap, if that's what you mean. It may not be safe for you, overall, since there are numerous dangerous threats there."

"We can handle that, though," she murmured.

"I'm sure you think so," it answered, for once no longer amused or laughing. "But beware: you might find things there that you would rather not know. You might find things that have changed from what you knew. Beware of the tricks that Beryl might lay, once she knows you are inside her lair. She does not take kindly to intruders, even such as harmless as I."

Mars nearly smiled. The Fire Sprites were hardly harmless in groups, but there was little that one or two could do by themselves, other than things that barely rated practical jokes.

She was concerned, though, at the advice from the Fire Sprite. What could have changed? Something about Serenity and Endymion perhaps? What would they find that they would rather not know?

"Thank you," she told it, her attention on her thoughts.

"Soldier of War, listen to me," it hissed, looking around as if it thought it was being watched. Her concentration snapped back to the Sprite.

"Be careful in Beryl's lair. Do not be foolish enough to take her on when you go there. Only rescue your friends and then leave. You will surely die if you think you can defeat her. Not only is it her home, the advantage of that in itself hers, but there are things that she can do there that would defeat you faster than you can blink. Make sure the rest of hot-heads in the Senshi and others know this well and HEED this advice."

With a swirl, the Sprite was gone.

A hand on her shoulder jerked her back to reality and she looked up into Jadeite's worried eyes. 

"We have to go," he whispered urgently. "People are coming to the Shrine and if they find us here, we're dead."

She managed to glance at the lawn and her face paled as Jadeite pulled her away. Her father must have noticed that she had been missing from school for a week now and decided to pay her Grandfather a visit. She longed to stay and defend him for what she knew her father would say, but she couldn't, not then.

Her eyes shut in pain at leaving the only family member who cared about her to fend for himself against such a ruthless man as her father, she ran back to the Control Room to tell her friends her findings.

End Chapter 11


	12. Chapter 12: Dark Journey

Author's Note:

The normal disclaimers here of course and that I'm certainly not doing this for money.

There are a few elements that are exclusive to the manga, as you will read, but those only involve character differences than from the anime, such as the Shitennous' relationship. Also, Mamoru has the Golden Crystal. 

If you need to contact me, my email is Guardian4@atlantic.net. Please put fanfiction or something in the subject line so I know what you're emailing me about. And if you're a really nice person (if this pertains to a certain fanfiction that I've done) you might want to put the name of the fanfiction you're referring to somewhere in the email.

All names are like the Japanese say them, last name first. So Kunzite's name would be Kail Rainer in America, but in Japanese it would be said Rainer Kail.

_Army of Immortals_

_Chapter 12: Dark Journey_

Mercury slipped through the shadows, butterflies in her stomach and filled with nervous energy. When Mars had told them her news, her hopes of stopping the epic battle against Beryl before it started…dashed. However, she was not so foolish to ignore the warnings and go for the attack anyway.

Her partner, who she observed quietly out of the corner of her eye, was stock still in the snow, his eyes watched the anomaly. She didn't blame him; she wasn't entirely sure that it wasn't in use at the moment.

Kunzite was a particularly cautious creature, she learned, much more so than Venus. While her leader was cautious to an extent, she was nothing in comparison to this man beside her. He was careful almost to a fault, unwilling to move forward until there was not even a shadow of a doubt about something.

Nephrite's news was somewhat more…uplifting, in her opinion. While he had less actual information to tell them, his rather vague but comforting statement had soothed her nerves before this venture had started.

The Senshi of Wisdom had rather wished that it was Zoisite next to her, but then she blushed at bit at the thought. She trusted him quite well, and she knew they worked very well together. However, she knew the wisdom of breaking up the special talents among the four pairs.

A beeping of her communicator caught her attention. She flipped the on switch quickly, in case any perimeter guards, of which they had found none, were nearby. 

"Mercury here."

"Venus here. I see no movement. It's time to move."

Mercury glanced at Kunzite to see his assessment. After a moment of thought, he nodded.

"Affirmative," she replied. "Contact if someone finds the Princess and Prince."

"Remember, if someone does find them, the rest get out," Mars advised quickly. "And if you run into Beryl, turn the other way. Get out. Do not fight her, understand?"

A chorus of affirmatives followed her statement and they moved toward the hovering portal from all sides.

Zoisite waved the Senshi forward with a slow hand. Black hair nearly hit his face as she passed. He nearly smiled, thinking, _That hair has as much fiery temper as she does._

"Where do you think we are?" Mars whispered.

He glanced around, analyzing with the gray and silver mini-computer in his hand. "My guess we're somewhere in the middle dungeons. According to my readings, there are at least five levels."

"At least? You mean, there could be more than five?"

"Exactly." He grimaced in distaste. "I suggest we start moving. I don't want to get caught here."

"Hear, hear," she muttered.

Every once and awhile, they had to hide and wait as a guard passed them by, but other than that, they did not have much trouble.

This was a good thing, he reflected, as he saw Mars get more and more irritated with no results from their searching of the cells on that level. She nearly punched the last door in frustration.

"So do we go up or down?"

"Normally, I would suggest splitting up, but—"

"Absolutely not," she hissed. "The Fire Sprite might not have stated it, but it implied it. We don't split up any more than we have now."

He sighed, a little irritated at interrupted. "I know, you told us. As I was saying, normally I would suggest splitting up, but that is not the wisest course of action at this point. My best guess would be to check the lower dungeons next."

"Why?"

"Haven't you ever played those Dungeons and Dragons games? If you're in a dungeon, looking for something, it's _always_ on the bottom level."

Mars rolled her eyes. "Sure."

She followed him, nonetheless, as he found the stairs leading down, right next to the stairs leading up. Carefully, because of the sheer slickness from moss and damp made walking treacherous, he made his way deeper into the shadows.

At one point, Mars lost her footing and slammed into his back. Zoisite tipped precariously and grabbed her legs as they somehow found their way around his waist. He wavered there a moment before her hands gripped his upper arms, so she was effectively piggy-back. This didn't do except make him lose his balance completely. 

He pitched forward and they rolled down the steep stairs, trying to keep from crying out at every step. They landed in a heap on slimy floor, covered in icky gunk and smelling thoroughly unpleasant. 

Zoisite looked up long enough to notice the sleeping youma that was just coming awake before he rolled himself and the still dazed Mars into the shadowed corner to the left of the stairway.

Slowly, so slowly that he wanted to scream, it spewed out of the chair, as it was made of some kind of dark green sludge. It reeked horribly and almost made him retch as it glommed up the stairs. Mars, on his back as he knelt on his knees, craned her neck to follow its progress.

"It's safe," she whispered in his ear.

He sighed touchily. "Next time," he snapped acidly, "do NOT wear heels."

Her gloved hand slammed into the back of his head in anger. It was not hard enough to do actual damage, but enough to know that she did not appreciate the comment about her chosen footwear.

They sorted themselves out and began to peer in the cells. Five minutes later of fruitless searching, Mars gestured with her arms in hopeless frustration, motioning they should just give up on the dungeons.

Zoisite almost agreed with her until he heard it. He was almost afraid that it was the youma coming back, but it sounded more human than anything a youma. Mars didn't hear it and when she opened her mouth to ask why he had suddenly stilled, he held up his hand, waiting. 

It sounded again and he followed it to the one cell that they had not noticed before, it was so well hidden in with the dark and dank of this place. Mars tapped her foot impatiently behind him.

He peered into the bars and let out a gasp, "Endymion!"

It certainly got the Senshi of War's attention and she rushed over to him. Since the grill bars were very small and could only accommodate one person in front of them, she practically climbed onto his shoulders to look over his head. Her weight was such that he almost bended double over, but was still able to look through the bars.

Sailor Moon was asleep, but his Prince managed to open his eyes. When he saw two shocked and happy eyes, one most notably green and the other violet, he jumped up with more energy than he looked like he had.

His hands gripped the bars tightly. "Zoisite!" he whispered gratefully.

Zoisite's hands went around his fingers, touching him reassuringly and giving him comfort, knowing by the dazed man's eyes that he wasn't entirely sure they were real, or if they were just part of a wishful and extremely wonderful dream.

Their voices, while low, penetrated into the restful doze the leader of the Senshi had been in, and her eyes fluttered open. He was quite sure she could see them, since the barred window in the door was very small, but she somehow managed to pick them out. She was on her feet in seconds, and assumed much the same position as Mars, only on Mamoru's back.

"Mars!"

Her happy and grateful mumble almost masked the noise of the youma guard returning. However, Zoisite's ears caught it and he turned to the empty stairs with a horrified look. Mars immediately jumped off of his back and stood to attention, facing the incoming threat, while he tried to find the latch to let the two out.

He managed to find it, superbly hidden, camouflaged with the old and dark wood of the door, near the right edge. Pulling out a kit that every team had been dispersed with, he attempted to pick the lock. 

"Hurry," Mars warned him.

Zoisite knew he was no great hand at picking locks; he'd never done it before in his life. He wasn't entirely sure he could do it at all. His hands began to sweat in nervousness and his heartbeat sped up. The blood in his body doubled…no, quadrupled its speed until he felt as if he was going to get a migraine.

The lock finally gave and he pulled the door with all his strength while the two on the other end pushed. They slipped out and proceeded to close the door. They ran to the shadows, hiding in total fear, certain they would be found out. 

Their luck held, and the youma guard simply slimed its way back into its chair. They waited until it was obviously asleep and nearly ran up the stairs to somewhere they could call the others and let them know that Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen were safe.

Jadeite resisted the urge to fidget as they tried to decide which corridor to take. Both looked like the last one they had just walked through. The same colored, greenish glop covered all the walls and the smell that filtered throughout the place reminded him strongly of dump heaps.

"Let's go left," Jupiter suggested.

"But we went left the last time," he protested.

"Don't you read a thing? You always go in the same direction when you're in a maze like this. So we decided left first off. Therefore, we continue to the hug the left wall."

He shrugged. "Fine," he said, somewhat crossly. Why did he bother? She never listened to him, not once since they had been paired together. He would rather be with Mars. She was quite unique and she would probably at least _listen_ to what he had to say, before going in the direction she chose.

He followed her, not paying much attention to what was around them. It all looked the same anyway. 

"So how do you suppose we'll clear the name of the Sailor Senshi and the Earthen Knights?" she asked him conversationally.

Jadeite shrugged again. "I don't know. I guess once we defeat Beryl, they won't be needed anymore. When they don't show up and nothing attacks, I think they'll forget about it."

"I hope you're right."

"It would probably be the first time, if I am," he commented.

She let out a low, peal of laughter and he grinned a little. While she didn't hit him like Mars, she still was fun to be around and enjoyed his jokes. He looked up as she stopped abruptly.

He knew without a doubt that the woman in front of them was Beryl herself. But his first emotion, rather than fear or anger, was irritation.

"'Always go in the same direction', she says," he sneered, "'Hug the left wall', she says. Now look where we are!"

She had the grace to look a little sheepish. But when Beryl smiled, his irritation vanished and he filled entirely with fear. A harsh beeping barely penetrated his terrified daze.

"We've got Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen. Let's go."

"It's Beryl, Beryl's in front of us," Jupiter said frantically.

Hearing her so scared didn't do much for his own nerves. An overriding voice, a commanding one, sounded and he only just recognized Kunzite's.

"Get out of there! Run! Remember what Mars said!"

He turned to do as ordered, but found more problems.

They were surrounded. Surrounded by hundreds of youma. And through their fear, all Beryl did was smile.

End Chapter 12


	13. Chapter 13: Every Moment

Author's Note:

The normal disclaimers here of course and that I'm certainly not doing this for money.

There are a few elements that are exclusive to the manga, as you will read, but those only involve character differences than from the anime, such as the Shitennous' relationship. Also, Mamoru has the Golden Crystal. 

If you need to contact me, my email is Guardian4@atlantic.net. Please put fanfiction or something in the subject line so I know what you're emailing me about. And if you're a really nice person (if this pertains to a certain fanfiction that I've done) you might want to put the name of the fanfiction you're referring to somewhere in the email.

All names are like the Japanese say them, last name first. So Kunzite's name would be Kail Rainer in America, but in Japanese it would be said Rainer Kail.

_Army of Immortals_

_Chapter 13: Every Moment_

Jadeite floated in a sea of blissfulness, his consciousness fading. Nothing hurt anymore; he felt naught but a contentedness at heart. Vaguely, someone was calling his name, shaking him. He wanted to shove the person away, they were interfering with his peacefulness, but no amount of movement would come to his limbs.

What had happened to put him into this peacefulness? He was almost sure that pain had caused it, but he couldn't be positive. What was pain, anymore?

Screaming.

Pain.

Fear.

Mars.

Rage.

Loyalty.

Love.

Endymion…

His eyes snapped open and he shrieked as claws raked across his body. Jupiter thrown next to him, she herself looking three times as worse than what he felt. She must have been protecting him when he had gone down, he realized. Friendly affection and gratefulness for this girl filled him when he thought of her using her body as a shield for him.

"Jadeite," she whispered, her voice broken up with exhaustion and pain.

Wrath made his blue eyes darker and cleared his head faster than fresh air would have done. He lifted his head slowly, glaring at the youma slowly approaching them, Beryl behind them and smiling down at the warriors with malicious intent.

At a thought, he was up and in front of Jupiter, a Senshi that had earned his respect a hundred-fold. His hands glowed red, for himself, and gold, for Endymion. The ground shook a little, surprising the youma so they stopped a moment. Steam rose from cracks under their feet, a burning heat seared their various kinds of hides. 

"Molten…FIRE!" he screamed, the ground bursting upward in a red flow of lava, engulfing the youma.

The few that were water tried to put it out, as he had counted on, but it only created a steamy fog so thick they couldn't see anything. He took the opportunity, picked up Jupiter, and ran for all he was worth.

Behind him, Beryl frowned heavily and cursed.

"Where's the portal?" he demanded into his communicator when he forced himself to stop running in blind directions. Jupiter was still out cold and he worried about her, with the sheer amount of injuries she had sustained. Some of them looked to be very deep and some almost life-threatening.

"Jadeite? You're both alive?" came a very relieved, and shocked, voice. It sounded like Venus.

"Yes, but now we need to get out of here. Beryl's youma will find us soon if we don't."

"How is Jupiter? We lost contact with her near twenty minutes ago."

He glanced at the Soldier at his side. "Not good. You'll have to see for yourself."

"Mercury says go to your left and run until the hallway splits. Then you take the center path until it forks again. To your right will be a set of stairs. Go up them. When you reach the top, you'll be in a large room with nothing in it except the portal."

Jadeite stowed the directions in his head and picked up Jupiter. She stirred briefly, but didn't wake. He sighed in worry and ran down the left corridor. 

Each hallway seemed twice as long as the last one and he was constantly looking over his shoulder, waiting for a youma to jump out of the shadows and attack, which wasn't inconceivable.

He had just reached the stairs when he heard the sound of a number of feet, or something akin to it, coming down the corridor. He didn't think they saw him, but to make absolutely sure, as quietly as he could, he ran up the stairs. 

The portal itself wasn't special in any regard except that it was closing, and closing rapidly. With a dash, he threw himself and the green Senshi through only to fall on snow piled thick. Hands helped him stand up, as he couldn't move himself.

"My gods, what happened?" Mars demanded.

"Explain later, must leave. Youma behind."

Jadeite could barely managed to even keep his eyes open long enough to see Tuxedo Kamen and rejoice silently. He felt bad, but only slightly, as the other Senshi and Knights were forced to add more power to cover the two injured ones. 

He was out cold as soon as they landed.

Their voices woke Jayden from his sound sleep. He opened his clear blue eyes to meet Mamoru's, as he looked down on his friend, glad that he was no longer so badly injured. With a leap that took the other man by complete surprise, he had his arms wrapped around his neck and dragging him on top of him as he fell back in bed.

Mamoru flailed a little, but no amount of moving would dislodge the death grip Jayden had on his neck. 

"Jayden, I'm all right," he managed to say. His friend didn't reply and he stilled as he heard it. A low sniffling. Mamoru managed to turn his head and saw that Jayden, who he had never once seen in tears, was crying into his shoulder.

Alarmed, he asked, "Jayden, are you all right?"

"I'm…I'm so happy that you're all right," he whispered brokenly.

He had no idea, none at all that Jayden had felt that strongly about him before. With a soft smile, he returned the embrace. "I'm happy that _you're_ all right. You had me really worried."

Jayden laughed, a little choppily. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize."

The blonde's grip loosened enough so he could at least lever himself onto his elbows and look into the pale blue eyes. They were still very moist and tears were still at the corners of his eyes. 

His soft smile still on his face, he wiped the tears away in a brotherly fashion. "We're safe now."

"I…I was so scared, Mamoru," he confessed, tears of fear slowly leaking down his cheeks. "I thought I was going to die, that I'd never get to see you, Kail, Neil, or Zayn again. I…was just so scared."

Mamoru helped him sit up on the bed and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, staring into the space in front of him. "I know. I thought the same thing when I first saw Beryl."

"But…"

He looked at the man beside him. "I know how it felt, I _know_, but we're here now. We'll always be together, remember? Our group was 'meant to be'."

Jayden smiled hesitantly and wiped his face. "How is Jupiter?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Makoto's going to be fine—"

"Makoto?" he interrupted incredulously.

Mamoru laughed. "Apparently you all didn't exchange identities before you rescued us. Usagi and I exchanged names while we were in Beryl's dungeons. There was quite a bit of surprise when they found out. And Makoto was up and about faster than you. It was you we were worried about."

"Where are we?"

"Hikawa Shrine."

Footsteps sounded and the door opened slowly. A blue eye peered in surrounded by a patch of sapphire hair. With a sigh and smile of relief, Mercury-no, Ami stepped into the room. "I'm glad to see that you're up. You look much better."

"You may be glad to know that it was Ami herself that doctored you up."

"Really? Thanks a lot."

She blushed a little. "We warriors against Beryl and Metallia should stick together."

"If you feel up to it, let's join the others," Mamoru suggested.

Jayden nodded and followed Ami out the door. "Do you know about what went on here?"

"That you were arrested? Yes, and I bloody well don't like it," he growled. "I hate Beryl even more."

Relieved faces greeted the three of them as they entered a room with a large table dominating most of it. Makoto sat between Rei and Neil, looking perfectly healthy. She smiled at Jayden as he entered.

"Are you all right?" he asked as he sat down next to Mamoru.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you."

"For what?"

"What else? Getting us out of there. And you were right; we shouldn't have gone left."

"It doesn't matter anymore. What does matter is that we're all back in one piece," Kail interrupted, settling himself on Mamoru's left, always protective, though most likely it was unconscious at this point.

Mamoru caught Usagi's eye and looked pointedly at Kail and Minako. She gazed at the two of them and her eyes widened imperceptibly. She raised her eyebrows at him and he nodded slightly. There was something going on between them, from the way they kept glancing at each other from time to time.

"Our first order of business today, ladies and gents," Zayn drawled, "is what we tell our parents and school."

"Anybody got the slightest clue?" asked Usagi hopefully.

"Not a damn one," Neil commented, putting his chin in his hand and slipping his other one in Makoto's, a fact that Mamoru and Usagi did not miss.

"I wouldn't know what would be plausible at all," Ami admitted, "as I've never been in this kind of situation before."

"We can't exactly plead sleepover," murmured Rei. 

Kail sat in silence for some time before he leaned forward. "This may or may not work, and this only works if the school has not called our homes."

"What is it?" questioned Zayn, an interested gleam in his eye.

"We could tell our parents that our schools had a…field trip of sorts that we did not expect and it took a week to get back. We tell the school that our parents had a family emergency and needed us home."

"It's better than anything else we've come up with," stated Minako.

"Which is nothing," quipped Jayden. 

"What happens if the school has contacted our homes?" Usagi asked worriedly.

Silence.

"I thought so."

"…Wait a second."

They looked up at Rei. "Do you remember when we went missing that there was that strange kidnapping? Just yesterday, I read that they caught the man and they found so many kids there and most he found at the mall. Couldn't we claim we were one of them?"

"Wouldn't the police escort the kids home?" asked Mamoru skeptically.

"But there was a huge amount of kids. We could just say that they didn't have enough to send with every kid."

"What a stroke of luck, and rather coincidental," Kail commented darkly. "But we have no choice but to use it. It's a little far-fetched, but more plausible than the other one."

"We have to leave and be home, like, right now, for that to work," Neil told them.

They said their goodbyes, but Mamoru paused Usagi on the steps of the Shrine. She turned to him, her eyes so beautiful and full that he had to remind himself to breathe. He suddenly couldn't remember what he was going to say to her.

"I told you we'd get out of there," he said, for lack of anything other to say.

"Yes you did. I'm sorry I doubted you." She turned to go.

He grabbed her arm gently. "That's not what I wanted to say."

Her eyes, full of a mix of emotions, were turbulent as they stared into his.

"I…I want you to know that what happened between us in Beryl's dungeons…it wasn't just because we were the only two that weren't evil. It was because…" He drew in a deep breath. "It was because I've…fallen for you. I love the way you talk, I love your family, the way that you do your hair…everything. I just wanted you to understand that before you left."

She smiled and stepped closer to him so that she was so near they were barely inches apart. "I love you too."

His smile was brilliant, easily eclipsing the sun. Slowly he lowered his head to hers, kissing her gently. "I'll see you tomorrow, Usako," he murmured.

Usagi blushed at the nickname, but nodded happily nonetheless. "I can't wait…Mamo-chan."

They parted ways, each walking on air and never noticing the smiles from the friends that had been covertly watching.

End Chapter 13


	14. Chapter 14: Frost At Midnight

Author's Note:

The normal disclaimers here of course and that I'm certainly not doing this for money.

There are a few elements that are exclusive to the manga, as you will read, but those only involve character differences than from the anime, such as the Shitennous' relationship. Also, Mamoru has the Golden Crystal. 

If you need to contact me, my email is Guardian4@atlantic.net. Please put fanfiction or something in the subject line so I know what you're emailing me about. And if you're a really nice person (if this pertains to a certain fanfiction that I've done) you might want to put the name of the fanfiction you're referring to somewhere in the email.

All names are like the Japanese say them, last name first. So Kunzite's name would be Kail Rainer in America, but in Japanese it would be said Rainer Kail.

_Army of Immortals_

_Chapter 14: Frost At __Midnight___

Zayn slowly pondered the girl next to him in wonder. He had seen her work, watched her, when she had treated Jayden. She was amazing…no, she was more than amazing. From what she had told him, her mother was a doctor. Ami would surpass her long before she knew it. Her mother might be the greatest doctor in Japan, but she would be the greatest in the world.

"Is there a reason you're gazing at me like that?" she asked.

He blushed, embarrassed being caught staring. "I was just thinking."

She simply nodded. The rest of the walk was quiet, Zayn not really having the nerve to look at her again when she'd caught him once already. Her soft words broke through the silence between them, startling him.

"Well this is it. Thank you for walking me home."

The warrior smiled. "You're entirely welcome. I enjoyed this."

Now she blushed. "So did I."

He opened his mouth, but a screech caught him off guard.

"AMI-CHAN!"

Arms wrapped themselves in a death grip around Ami's neck from behind. Her shocked look nearly made him laugh, as the scene was priceless. Her utterly surprised confusion…then he saw the distraught woman that could only be her mother and his amusement died.

She looked as if she hadn't slept in a week, the dark circles under her eyes looking like first rate bruises, which Zayn knew quite about. He came home bruised black and blue some nights, after particularly nasty fights. Her hands shook so badly that he could see them even from where he stood. Sobs shook her shoulders as her forehead buried itself in the crook of Ami's neck.

"Mother?" Ami breathed, shocked at the condition of her.

"Where have you been? I've been so worried about you! And then there was that story about the kidnapper! I knew you liked going out with your friends to the mall, and I thought the worst! Yesterday they said they had caught the man and I thought you were going to come home and you didn't at all! I didn't know what to think!" She gave up on words and simply wailed into her daughter's shoulder.

Ami's eyes locked with Zayn's in alarm. He couldn't believe how badly their parents might have reacted. The Wisdom Senshi had confided to him that she doubted that her mother had even known she was missing, such was her busy schedule.

"Mother, when have you last slept?" she demanded.

"I don't remember."

"Zayn, would you excuse me? I really have to take care of my mother."

Finally, Ms. Mizuno looked up at him, as if noticing him for the first time. He nodded. "Sure, Ami-chan. I'll see you in a few days, then?"

"Yes. Call me soon. Now, Mother, it's time you went to bed."

Ami's mother continued to stare at him as he backed away and she was led into the house. Zayn closed the gate behind him and thought about how his father would react, knowing how long he was gone. It took but a moment for him to burst into a run toward his house.

He rushed in the door, searching around wildly. His eyes slid past the picture on the hall table, the photo of himself, his mother, and his father. Not even the pang of his mother's death, only two years past, could touch him now, not with his fear for his father. Often he had said that he was the only thing that kept him from joining his wife up in heaven.

"Dad?"

It was like a bull running down the stairs. His father landed heavily on his feet as he jumped down the last few steps and thrust himself on his son. If he hadn't been an Earthen Knight, Zayn thought he might have broken a few ribs as hard as his father hugged him.

"I'm all right, Dad," he whispered.

"I'm so glad. Where have you been?"

Hating himself for what he was going to put his father through, he detailed the account of the kidnapper and inserted himself into the story of kidnapped children. The sheer shock and fear of almost losing him filled his father's face, nearly making him tell he was lying. 

"I'm so…so glad that you're alive. I worried to death about you."

Zayn fought the urge to look down in shame. "I'm all right," he repeated. "I'm just a bit tired." It wasn't a lie; he wavered slightly on his feet, drained from the teleportation from the North Pole anomaly point.

His father reacted instantly and picked him up as if he was a child again. He looked up at the near square face. The man would have easily been thought of fathering Neil or Kail, as he 6'3, a contrast to his 5'6 wife and his only slightly taller son.

"You look so much like your mother," he commented softly to him.

"You've told me that before," he responded, smiling, and resting his head on his father's shoulder. He didn't think he could have made it up the stairs without help. As soon as his feet had left the floor, the weight and power he had used up had hit him hard, so he wasn't sure if he could keep his eyes open much longer.

He felt himself being set down in a bed and sighed in relief, curling onto his side. 

"Good night, son," he heard his father whisper before the door was shut quietly.

Kail walked next to Mamoru, refraining from saying anything to his airborne friend, in every way except the physical. He knew that Mamoru didn't have to worry about parents; his had died when he was young. The loss of his memory, however, had actually worked for them once they had become a group and the Earthen Knights appeared. It had made him more susceptible to the memories that came.

"Kail, you can go home now. You don't have to walk me to my apartment."

Mamoru's voice jogged his attention. "I know it's not like I have to, I know, but I want to. Because you're my friend. I'm also worried that you'll run into a truck, as you've been on Cloud 9 since we left the Shrine."

The Prince laughed heartily. "I see."

Kail smiled slightly.

"So, what's going on between you and Minako?"

He blushed, something he rarely, if ever, did. Hesitantly, he detailed what had gone on between him and the Soldier of Love. "I know it wasn't right, when you and Usagi were captured, but—"

"That was your first mistake."

"Huh?"

"Just because something happens to me doesn't mean that you're entire life stops," he admonished gently, sounding like the prince he used to be.

"But—"

"No 'buts'. You heard me."

"As you wish, Sire."

As he had intended, Mamoru's lips quirked in a small smile that he fought to suppress. "Off with you, go home. Tell your parents and your sister that you're all right."

"Like my sister would have noticed I was gone," he muttered bitterly.

Mamoru knew as well as he did that things weren't all right at home. Kail's sister, Tomi, spent most of her time away from their house. She was about five years older than him, but often he wondered if, mentally, she wasn't ten years his junior. Her compulsions, which he had doubted she ever denied, ruled her life so much that if she wanted something, she would get it whether or not anyone else approved or whether it was good for her or not. 

"Just how badly off is your sister?" Mamoru asked uncertainly.

"Bad enough that I'm the only one that knows that she's gotten three abortions already," he grumbled sadly.

"Three?!"

"Yeah," he whispered. "I'm also not entirely sure she hasn't immersed herself in drugs yet either. I'm worried, Mamoru-kun. I mean, I want to help her, but I never see her. And when I do, she's either spaced out or in such a temper that I don't dare say anything. When she's home, I also can't say anything to her because my parents will find out. I don't know what to do anymore." He sighed. "She wasn't always like this. I remember when I was younger, she used to look out for me. She would play with me all day and help me with my homework when I needed it. I don't know what happened to her, Mamoru."

His friend didn't say anything. Indeed, asked Kail silently, what was there to say? Absolutely nothing.

Mamoru waved goodbye at him as he entered his apartment building. Kail sighed, not really wanting to go home, but knowing he had no other choice. 

As soon as he entered the door, his parents pounced on him. "Where have you been?" demanded his father irately.

Before he could open his mouth, a sarcastic voice sounded from the top of the stairs. A voice he knew very well.

"Yes, where were you and why did you leave me all alone with your sister?"

Tomi strode down the stairs and stared into his eyes. They were a bit dazed, as if she had been taking drugs or had been sleeping for hours and just woken up. But deep in them, there was a relief, a feeling of his older sister again and not this stranger he didn't know anymore.

In seconds it was gone and the derision was back again.

"Silence," retorted his father angrily. With a glare, she bit her tongue and wisely kept her thoughts to herself.

Kail, with a weary inward sigh, explained the ruse that they had come up with, though with no embellishment on his part. Immediately, his mother went into hysterics and hugged him, crying on his shoulder. His father nodded and commented proudly, "Gave the kidnapper the time of his life I'll bet; made his life miserable, didn't you? That's my son."

Only Tomi didn't seem to buy it. She stared at him skeptically and jogged back up the stairs to her room. Overcome with a strange urge to talk to his sister, he excused himself from his mother and followed her.

"What do you want?" she snapped as she flopped onto her bed and flipped on the TV she had managed to con out of his father to putting in her room.

He closed the door behind him. At first, he didn't know quite what to say. What did he have in common with this stranger that was supposed to be his sister? "Tomi, are you…"

"That was the lamest excuse I've ever heard in my life," she commented in scorn, her eyes never leaving the screen. "And I've thrown a few in my life. So where were you, really?"

Kail hesitated.

"Come on, I won't tell them."

"I…" How could he tell her that he'd been in jail, broke out, and then traveled to the North Pole to do battle against an Evil Queen that had captured his Prince, the man he had sworn to lay his life down for?

She looked at him and took in his expression. Her eyes widened and she bolted upright in bed. "You were in jail, weren't you?"

He managed to nod. She crowed, whether in amusement or triumph, he wasn't sure. "I knew it! Hey, did you see those 'Warriors for Love and Justice'? What a scam! They're even fuller of it than I am. Fight to save the Earth? Puh-lease!"

"You think they should have been convicted then?"

"Hell no! I'm just glad those guys, these supposedly supernatural people, finally got off their asses and took down the police a peg or two. They need to be shown that they don't rule people."

"But Tomi, they're the police. They protect the people of Japan—"

"Oh, get off your high horse, Kail," she told him rudely. "You were in jail and you really believe that shit?" He winced at her language. "So, what were you in jail for?"

He was growing really angry at her, attested by his balled fists. It was probably most likely aftereffects of spending so much power to teleport and the emotional stress. His mouth opened and he spat, "Damn it, Tomi, who the hell are you? You're not my sister anymore and I want to know who replaced her!"

She jumped to her feet in a nanosecond. Her fist came up and headed straight for his face.

He wasn't in the least expecting it, though in retrospect he figured he should have. It connected and tossed him back against the wall. She had more punch to her fist than he would have thought possible. 

"Shut up, Kail. Who are you, anyway? You want to ask that, then think about yourself first. You're not the little brother that I grew up with either. Look at those pathetic grades! You used to get straight A's, and now its only A's and B's. You used to be such a goody-goody guy. Now you're changed and not for the better. You're a complete wimp! You can't even dodge a single punch, you're lost any backbone you used to have, and the one good thing about you, your brains, have obviously died. And you have the nerve to say that I've changed?!"

With quiet dignity, he straightened and looked her straight in the eye. "I'm the same brother you grew up with. Perhaps if you bothered to notice, you would know that."

Drawing his pride and carefully veiled hurt around him like a steel cloak, he left her room silently so she wouldn't see his tears.

End Chapter 14


	15. Chapter 15: Mortality

Author's Note:

The normal disclaimers here of course and that I'm certainly not doing this for money.

There are a few elements that are exclusive to the manga, as you will read, but those only involve character differences than from the anime, such as the Shitennous' relationship. Also, Mamoru has the Golden Crystal. 

If you need to contact me, my email is Guardian4@atlantic.net. Please put fanfiction or something in the subject line so I know what you're emailing me about. And if you're a really nice person (if this pertains to a certain fanfiction that I've done) you might want to put the name of the fanfiction you're referring to somewhere in the email.

All names are like the Japanese say them, last name first. So Kunzite's name would be Kail Rainer in America, but in Japanese it would be said Rainer Kail.

_Army of Immortals_

_Chapter 15: Mortality_

When he saw Minako the next day, he could barely feel around the pain. Her concerned glances he noticed, but could not bring himself to lie to her. So when she asked him what was wrong, he told her, his shoulders trying to shake in suppressed pain but him not allowing it.

"Kail," she said at last, breaking the heavy silence between them, "I don't know how you feel right now, because I don't have any siblings. But I do know one thing: the fact that you told her that you don't know her anymore is a good thing."

He finally took his eyes off the ground and looked at her. "Why?"

"Because now she knows that, if she wants it, to have the relationship you both used to have, she will have to change."

"And if she doesn't want it?"

She wrapped her arms around him. "Then it's her loss."

Kail kissed her gently. "I love you."

Minako smiled. "I know. I love you too."

They sat in quiet silence together, just holding each other and reveling in the fact that their friends were all alive. It had been a very close call when Jadeite and Jupiter had run into Beryl, so close that it bothered Kail a great deal.

"We got lucky, you know," she murmured after a while.

"Yeah, we did."

"It bothers me, Kail. Are we going to have to depend on luck now?"

"No, not if we defeat Beryl."

"You're right. We must defeat her, if we are to have peace again. We leader types worry too much about so many things that if we can get rid of a major one, it's better for us to sleep at night."

He laughed a little. "You're definitely right."

They stood and meandered around the park before Minako glanced at her watch in dismay when it beeped. "I'm sorry, Kail, but I have to go. We Senshi have a very specific meeting to keep."

"About us, right?" he commented lightly, referring to the Earthen Knights.

"Yeah, about you. I'll let you know anything of interest."

"What, like my good build?"

She laughed heartily. "I can tell you that without having a meeting."

Her lips touched his in a searing kiss that left him dizzy and on Cloud 9 for the next hour. 

He had finally decided to head home when his communicator beeped. On alert, he answered brusquely, "Yes?"

Zoisite's voice was somewhat tired as he spoke. "Hurry, Kail. We need you badly."

"Where?"

"Near a jewelry store, called Osa-P."

"I'll be right there."

The other Knights and Tuxedo Kamen were already there when he arrived. There were two youma, working together as a team in a way that disturbed him. So far, there had been no indication that youma were intelligent enough to form complex plans and work as partners to the caliber of a pair of Senshi or Knights.

"'Bout time you got here, Kunzite," panted Mars.

"I hurried."

"Good thing too," Jupiter told him, flinging a lightning bolt at the blue one. The dark purple one screeched a warning and its partner turned and dodged. The Jovian Senshi cursed in anger.

"Hey, hey, hey, look who's here, doing their thing," was the scathing remark.

Kunzite turned cold, colder than the artic around the anomaly.

Tomi swaggered her way toward them, weaving like a drunk. "Looks like you all finally showed. The police are on their way now. You should thank the pedestrian over there for turning you in."

The man she was referring to was slumped, out cold and drained of energy, next to a phone booth.

"Get out of here, civilian!" snapped Mars, irritated.

His sister straightened haughtily, proving that she was, in fact, quite sober. "Watch your tongue brat."

Mars' face burned with rage. "You call me a BRAT?"

"Deal with this later, Mars!" Venus yelled at her. "Right now we have to get rid of the youma!"

"What are they, some kind of people in costumes? How much are you paying them?" sneered Tomi.

"Stop it," commanded Sailor Moon. "Please leave, for your own safety."

"What are you talking about? You think the guys you paid to be 'youma' are going to attack me?"

"Damn it, we didn't pay them, they aren't human, and they will attack you!" screeched Jupiter.

While the Senshi's attention turned to argue with his sister, Kunzite and the other Knights were busy trying to destroy the youma. They knew very well this was his sister and they would not, despite their anger at her comments, say anything because of their friendship.

"Tomi, look out!" he screamed, throwing himself between her and the purple youma as it snuck up behind her.

Tomi caught him unwillingly as the man fell against her. She hadn't the slightest clue how he knew her name.

"KUNZITE!" screamed two loud voices, one a black-haired male and the other a blonde female.

The man in her arms wheezed painfully, moving his head a little. The stupid party mask around his eyes fell to the ground. Shock would have been a mild word to describe her state, she thought at the back of her mind.

"Kail? What the shit?"

A roar sounded and she looked to see the strange thing looming above her. Up close, there was no doubt that it WASN'T a costume. It also scared her, though she refused to admit it.

"Crescent BEAM!"

A shaft of bright, golden light flew past her ear and slammed full force at the creature. It screeched in pain and swiped out at her, but it had staggered back when the blast hit so it didn't reach her. A woman in orange landed next to her, on her right, crying as if someone had stabbed her.

"Kunzite, come on, don't do this to me," she muttered, trying to pull him from her arms.

Tomi shoved her away. "Stay away from my brother, bitch," she told her coldly.

The woman stared at her in shock.

They surged past her, those warriors, to attack the purple thing. She glanced behind her and saw only a pile of dust tinted blue slightly, obviously what remained of the other thing. A man with top hat and tuxedo dropped to one knee on her left.

"Kunzite," he said calmly, a little too calmly. "Hang on, don't go anywhere."

"Where the hell is he gonna go?" Tomi demanded. "He's injured! And his name isn't Kunzite, it's—"

He stared into her eyes and she forgot to finish her sentence. Those sexy sapphire eyes were hard and warning her to be quiet.

Her brother stirred and she looked down at him hopefully. "Venus…"

Disappointment stifled her as she heard another's name come out of her brother's mouth.

"Venus…is Tomi all right."

The woman in orange moved toward him and touched his hand. Kail's eyes never once opened. "Yes, you saved her."

"Venus…I…" His voice gave out, but his head turned in her direction constantly. Tomi couldn't help feeling jealous.

"Mercury!" the woman yelled, her eyes turning to search out a comrade. "We need you."

A woman in blue dropped next to her, a compact computer in her hand and pale blue visor over her eyes. "He's in critical condition. We need to get him out of the street and back to the Shrine. There's no way we can let his identity get out; Beryl will have our hides if we do."

The man tried to grab Kail and she punched him on the jaw. "Stay away from him, all of you! I'm taking my brother to a hospital and that's that. It's all because of you that he's on death's door right now!"

"You want to help him," retorted another male with a burgundy colored party mask, "Then let us take him to the Shrine. A hospital will only hinder him."

"Don't take me for a fool!" she snarled, angered on behalf of her brother. "A hospital can save him!"

"It can't!" the blue woman said urgently. "It can't save him; his physiological differences will see to that. They can't help him now. Only we can."

"NO!"

A sudden, excruciating pain in her head covered her vision and she felt herself sliding down to lie on the concrete. Her last sight was of the men picking up her brother and taking him away. She lost consciousness just as she saw female faces bending down to look at her.

Tomi woke with a splitting headache. Groaning, she managed to sit up and clutch her head. One of those people must have knocked her out. She noticed, when the spots in her vision cleared, that she was not lying out on the street. The wood of the room was a pale brown, the paper and wood screen door closed. She was lying on a comfortable mat with a bowl of water and washcloth next to her.

"Where is my brother?!" she screamed and immediately winced.

While the idea of screaming to get SOMEONE'S attention had been a good one, she hadn't realized just how loud it would be and how much it would hurt her ears, inevitably adding to the pounding in her brain.

"Relax and keep quiet," said an irritated voice.

She looked up to see the door sliding open and a girl with black hair entering.

"Where is my brother?" Tomi snarled.

"If you can get up, I'll lead you to him." Her expression said she was not happy about it, but would do it.

Tomi managed to get to her feet, wavering a bit. "Where are those…people?" she growled angrily, wanting to rip them apart.

"One of them is standing in the doorway," the girl drawled. "I'm Sailor Mars, the 'brat'. This is my Shrine so I sincerely hope that will respect it. Follow me."

Her brusque voice and angry body language got on her nerves. "How old are you exactly?"

"I'm fifteen."

"Well, I'm twenty, so you might show some respect!"

"I'll show you respect when you've earned it. So far you haven't. You nearly cost your brother his life. If we hadn't knocked you out and brought him here, Ami-chan couldn't have saved him."

"Yeah right," she said, but low and under her breath.

She slid another door open and in the room there were two mats placed next to each other. On one, nearest the wall was her brother, pale looking but not near death as he had been. On the other, holding his hand was the woman with the blonde hair, the one in orange though now she wore jeans and a t-shirt. She looked up briefly at Tomi and then back down without saying a word.

The reproof in her eyes managed to get past her barriers and shame her slightly, though she would be damned if she would show it. "Back away from my brother, bi—"

Her cheek stung as the girl with black hair gave her a resounding slap. "Keep those vile curses in your mouth. You will not utter them in my Shrine, nor will you speak them of any that are here. We saved your life; you owe us that. And if you say anything like what you did last night to Minako," she warned, her voice deadly low so that only they could hear, "I promise you, you'll regret it. No one speaks to her or Usagi like that in front of me. I'll leave you alone now."

The door closed behind her.

"So who are you to my brother?" she asked, trying her hardest to sound civil, though all she wanted to do was pull her away from him.

"Our rank is the same," the girl, Minako, answered, without looking at her at all. "Second-in-command of our respective groups."

"Damn the rank! Who are you to my brother?! You know what I mean!"

Minako heaved a sigh. "I know what you mean, but it's hard to answer so that you can understand. We…Love blossoms in the most unlikely times and that's what happened a week ago. I love him and he loves me."

"Who the hell are you guys? And why did you bring him into all this, damn it! He's only fifteen!"

"Follow me and you'll get your explanations."

Though all Tomi really wanted to do was stay with him, she had to know what was going on so she could bail her brother out. _It's always me who does this_, she thought fondly. _Maybe if I know what's going on, I can figure a way to get him out of this thing so he can live a normal life. _

"Sit down."

The order was gentle and Tomi sat, somewhat hesitantly at the end of the table. She countered all the stares and not altogether happy looks with glares at them all. They were the ones that were getting her brother in danger and damn if she wasn't going to let them have it when she got her explanation!

"What the hell is going on?"

The black haired girl's eyes flashed at her language.

"First off, I believe that Rei-chan asked you to not to curse," responded another blonde girl softly, this one with the strangest hairstyle she'd ever seen.

Tomi muttered under her breath and nodded. Glancing around the table, she picked out the people she knew. There was Jayden, she'd met him once…and Zayn and Neil. But the other man she didn't know. He sat directly opposite her, on the other end of the table. The girl with the strange hairstyle sat next to him.

"Who are you all?"

There was a round of introductions, none of which really interested her. She had only asked the question so she could have names in which to call them by.

"Kail is Earthen Knight Kunzite, second in command to Tuxedo Kamen," explained Minako. "He's been in this role for a year, ever since Queen Beryl and Queen Metallia emerged. It is his duty to protect Prince Endymion from all harm."

"Who's this Endion person?"

"Endymion," corrected Zayn with a flash of anger in his eyes. "It's pronounced Endymion. And that would be Mamoru."

So the man with the sexy blue eyes, Mamoru, was a prince. Just what she was looking for in a man. But that would wait for later.

"So...what else?"

"It is the same for the Senshi. We protect Princess Serenity."

Her expectant silence was a potent question.

"Serenity is Usagi," clarified Rei.

"Uh huh," she said noncommittally. She didn't look like a princess in her opinion. 

"It would take much too long to explain in detail our past, so it will be a shortened version," explained Minako. "There was a Silver Millennium a very long time ago. All the planets were not lifeless, but all except for Earth, they sustained that life by magic. Queen Beryl ruled the Dark Kingdom and with Metallia, a sun demon to aid her, she attacked the Moon Kingdom, Serenity's kingdom, with a vengeance."

"Why a vengeance?" she interrupted.

"Because, as we only now remember, Endymion and Serenity were in love. Metallia preyed on the jealously of Beryl, as she loved Endymion also, and managed to sway her to her side. The Moon Kingdom and all the planets except Earth were destroyed. With the most powerful object in existence, the Ginzuishou, Queen Serenity managed to seal away the Dark Kingdom and send the people, the Senshi, and the Shitennou to some time they would be safe. But last year, Beryl broke out of the seal, but not completely."

"How do you know not completely?"

"Because if she had completely, everyone on Earth would be dead now and the Dark Kingdom would be ruling the universe," Makoto answered, an edge to her voice.

Tomi paused, taking in this information. Aside from the fact that it sounded like some lunatic's dream, it wasn't all implausible. It didn't even need proof to be believed if it was so many thousands of years ago.

"So what really happened last week?"

"Just before we were arrested," Minako began slowly, "Beryl managed to take Serenity and Endymion. For four days we were in jail and in court. On the night of the fourth day, we broke out and managed to sneak down to our control center, the only place the police wouldn't find us. We spent another two days formulating a plan of action. On the seventh day, we began an assault to rescue them. We healed any injured members and came back. Then we tried to come up with an excuse that would satisfy our long absence."

"Well you didn't do a very good job," Tomi commented. "It was probably one of the worst excuses I've ever heard in my life."

Zayn opened his mouth to say something, but Jayden slammed his elbow in his side, effectively ending his thought. Though Tomi knew it would have been something contemptuous directed her way, she didn't really want to know. If she did, she'd only have to hurt him.

"So you see why my grades dropped," said her brother from behind her.

She whirled around to stare at him. "You should be in bed!"

He ignored her comment. "My grades dropped from straight A's because a lot of the time I was very busy trying to keep Beryl's demon hoard at bay and saving Endymion. I didn't have time to study a lot; fighting took up most of it."

"You would let your future hang in the balance for him?" she demanded, pointing an insolent finger at the man opposite her.

"I would die for him."

She snorted. "Don't be melodramatic, Kail."

"I'm not."

Tomi looked into his eyes and suddenly knew he wasn't. He would die for him. And no matter what she might do, or might say, he would continue fighting as this insane superhero. She couldn't fathom it, not at all.

"Why would you do something like this? Join this idiotic world?"

"This is what I was meant to _do with my life, Tomi. Grades don't matter if the world is destroyed."_

Her eyes filmed over with tears a bit. "I was wrong Kail, those things I said the other day. You've changed all right, and for the better. Everything I said the other day was wrong. And I'm sorry that I said them. I'm proud of you, brother."

Tomi wrapped her arms around him, a tear or two leaking out from her closed lids. "I'm so proud of you."

His tight hug back was all she needed to know.

End Chapter 15


	16. Chapter 16: Under A Battle Moon

Author's Note:

The normal disclaimers here of course and that I'm certainly not doing this for money.

There are a few elements that are exclusive to the manga, as you will read, but those only involve character differences than from the anime, such as the Shitennous' relationship. Also, Mamoru has the Golden Crystal. 

If you need to contact me, my email is Guardian4@atlantic.net. Please put fanfiction or something in the subject line so I know what you're emailing me about. And if you're a really nice person (if this pertains to a certain fanfiction that I've done) you might want to put the name of the fanfiction you're referring to somewhere in the email.

All names are like the Japanese say them, last name first. So Kunzite's name would be Kail Rainer in America, but in Japanese it would be said Rainer Kail.

_Army of Immortals_

_Chapter 16: Under A __Battle__ Moon_

"You know you can't tell Mom and Dad about this," Kail told her as they sat outside on the porch and watched the stars.

"I know. And I'll cover you if I can," she promised him. She _didn't _promise him that she wouldn't interfere if she could; she wouldn't allow him to get hurt. That is, she would protect him if she knew where he was going.

He stared at her speculatively, as if he was divining her thoughts. "Tomi, what made you change?"

Her eyes snapped down from the sky she was contemplating, surprised at the question. "What do you mean? What exactly are you asking?"

Kail thought for a moment. "Well…you've had three abortions in the past five months, you come home late at night if you come home at all, and when I finally made it back, you looked dazed and I thought you were on drugs…" He trailed off, watching her with concerned but wary eyes.

Tomi looked away, not at all pleased with how she had been acting. "I _had _hoped, before I knew the _real_ reason behind your rather erratic behavior, that you wouldn't notice that stuff."

"How could I _not notice it? You're my _sister_," he protested._

"I suppose it started with Dad," she finally said, after a moment of silent self-castigation. "You were having a guy version of a sleepover with your friends so you didn't hear it like the neighbors for four blocks down did. We were yelling fit to be tied."

"Why?"

"He…When I came home that day, he introduced me to a son of his business partner. I didn't really think about it until Dad brought it up again after they had left. He told me that he was thinking about an arranged marriage. Later Mom told me the rest of it, but right then, I was so angry I nearly hit him. I felt that it was an age-old practice that needed to be buried in the backyard. We started yelling after that."

"What did Mom say?"

"Well, she said that he had only thought about it and hadn't planned on going through with it unless I was in total agreement and liked the man. The idea was scrapped after that one night, but it still chafed at me. I fell into a bad crowd, I guess to simply show him up. When he found out, he was furious and I was satisfied. But when I tried to get out of my 'crowd', I found that I was in too deep to just 'leave'. And maybe, just maybe, their ideals, while misguided, appealed to me. I'd always been one of the 'good' girls, doing what their family wanted of them. I guess I wanted to see what the 'bad' girl was."

Kail didn't say anything for a long moment. "I often felt that way when I was younger, but when I remembered who I was and what I was destined to do, I forgot about all that and was simply proud to be what I am."

She laughed, though it felt as if it was forcing itself around an obstruction in her throat. "You sound like a thirty year old! Lighten up!"

But he didn't laugh, only stared at her. Though his words were serious, his gentle voice took any unkindness out of what he said. "Tomi, you don't understand, do you? I'm fighting to save the planet, my prince, and facing death every day. And I'm proud of it. You don't realize the extent of my devotion and determination."

"Oh, I do," she replied unhappily. "That's why I'm making light jokes about it. Because it scares the crap out me, knowing you're out on the front line with no one to back you."

"Not no one—"

"Yeah, you're friends, of no older than you and a girlfriend that looks like she couldn't even snap a twig," she spat harshly, not sure why she was suddenly angry. "Dying for a boy _younger than you by an entire year! Good gods, WHY?! Have you ever thought about how _I'd _feel, knowing you had died?! Yeah, that's backup all right!"_

Tomi stood up, rigid with righteous anger on his behalf. "I'm going inside now." She stalked past him and the door slammed behind her.

"I haven't gotten through to you have I, dear sister," she heard him murmur through the open window. "You still don't understand. I just wish you could."

She studied her opponent with a calculating eye, watching to see what move he would make. His blue eyes were shrewd as he thought, taking in every angle of attack and defense. Finally, he decided.

His fur paw slid the checker piece forward two places.

Minako's eyes lit in triumph. She easily jumped and captured his piece, only to realize that she had left herself open for his attack. Within the space of one move, he had taken three of her black pieces and leaving no defense of the back row where he could claim 'king'.

"Artemis!" she whined. "How could you do that to me? The one that feeds you!"

He laughed. "Your move, Minako."

She pouted before seriously contemplating her next move. And she saw the one weakness in his otherwise impenetrable defensive wall. She darted her piece forward with a victorious squeal. "There, you mangy flea-ridden miscreant!"

The white cat frowned at the move and the black opponent set neatly in his red, but out of range of any kind of retaliation. "For one, I am neither mangy nor flea-ridden and for another, take this! Cat power!"

He laughed in sheer delight, knowing he had won. Momentarily distracted by the open of his that she had fallen for, attention away from his dangerous king that had moved in on hers, it jumped her last king and claimed victory over the board.

A knock on the door interrupted her. She had no fear that her parents would find her talking to her cat; they were out at the movies, her treat for their anniversary. Complaining all the while, she got up.

"I know you somehow cheated, Artemis. How can a CAT beat me? I mean—"

Minako threw the door open and promptly forgot what she was saying.

Tomi pushed past her, into her room. "We have to talk about Kail and this Kunzite deal."

Artemis jumped on the low table with the checkerboard set on it, scattering red and black pieces everywhere. "Who are you?"

"I'm his sister!" she snapped at him.

"What do you want to talk about?" Minako asked quietly, her good mood vanishing.

"I want him out of this."

"Out of what?"

She waved her hands uselessly, trying to convey something that Minako didn't understand. "This whole—Earthen Knight deal. I want him out of it."

"Well then you came to the wrong person," quipped Artemis, a trifle angrily.

"Stow it, you talking furball."

"Artemis is right," Minako interrupted. "I'm not the person to talk to about that. I'm the second-in-command of the _Sailor Senshi_. If you want to make any progress in that area, you'll have to go straight to Mamoru. He's the leader of the Earthen Knights and Kail's commander."

"I already talked to him," she answered sullenly. "He said that if Kail wanted to leave, he would let him. He wasn't holding him against his will."

Minako shrugged, playing innocence for the moment. "So what's the problem?"

"I know Kail and he won't do it!"

"And you want me to do…what?"

"He loves you; you're his girlfriend. You say you love him back. So get him out of this! Convince him to leave."

She let out a slow sigh, one of long suffering patience. Her feet gradually led her to the window, where she stared down at the people on the street. "I do love Kail and that is precisely the reason I haven't done exactly that or just drove off with the Senshi and Knights away from all this. Being an Earthen Knight…that's his choice." The Senshi of Love finally looked at Tomi, whose expression was closed off. "Please try to understand. Kail's role in this goes far deeper than you can know. This has started, his life like this, not a single year ago but a thousand. He knew what he was getting into when he was born as Kunzite. He just never counted on the Silver Millennium being destroyed or having a sister he really loved getting involved in all this. But he can't back out now, he _wouldn't back out now. Aside from everything else keeping him as Earthen Knight Kunzite, it isn't in his character to do that. Is it?"_

"You're right," she grudgingly admitted. "He wouldn't do that. But damn it, why _him?"_

"Why is Serenity born as Tsukino Usagi? Why do I feel as close to Usagi as I am with Serenity? Why is Usagi so different from Serenity? Why was I chosen to be Sailor Venus? Why are my friends involved in this? You can ask why of everything, but nearly every 'why' question cannot be answered."

"Oh? And why is that?"

"That 'why' question is probably the only one that can be answered. And the answer is this: Fate."

"I don't believe in fate and all that destiny crap!"

She shrugged again. "Just because you don't believe in doesn't make it imaginary."

"And just because you do doesn't make it real either."

Minako smiled a little. "You're right."

Artemis leapt onto the bed, drawing Tomi's attention. "They did mention two talking cats. I suppose you're the female."

He drew himself up, affronted. "I, for your information, am male!"

Her eyes widened in shock and confusion. "But…but Artemis is a female name! She was the moon _goddess in Greek mythology."_

"Actually," he responded acidly. "The Roman and Greek cultures sprung up after the downfall of the Silver Millennium. The few people that remembered the Silver Millennium told their stories, but it ended up changing quite a bit. They made the Senshi into goddess' and somehow managed to get a few genders wrong, mine in particular. As the culture progressed, others picked up their 'gods' and 'goddesses' and inevitably changed us even more."

"So you're saying that all the gods like Mars were female? Mercury was female and not male? So where did the names Ares and Hermes come from?" Tomi bonelessly sank to the ground, all her attention on Minako's guardian cat.

"Ares was actually the name of the planet Mars' king. I would guess that most of the Greek names came from the Greeks that remembered the names of the planetary royalty."

"What about Minerva then?"

"I don't know where the lower demi-gods came from. All the major ones that everyone knows, however, such as Hermes/Mercury, Ares/Mars, Zeus/Jupiter, and Aphrodite/Venus, were based on the Senshi."

"But…Okay, they said there wasn't a Sailor Moon in this Silver Millennium right?" Artemis nodded. "And that Venus was the leader of the Senshi right? Well then, how come _Zeus or rather Jupiter, is thought to be the king of gods rather than her? And how did they change the genders?"_

"I don't know why they said Jupiter was the ruler of the gods," he speculated. "I've thought about this for a while and come to no solid basis for it. It couldn't be that she was second-in-command because she wasn't. Mars was second-in-command back then. As to changing the genders, it probably went by personality. Both Jupiter and Mars, or rather Makoto and Rei, were quite boyish and physically strong, Makoto especially so because the Jovians were the strongest of races. It would be simple to describe the personalities and think that they were more masculine traits and make the supposed deity a male."

"What about Hermes?"

"Mercury or rather Ami, was always good at dealing with travelers and especially merchants. They loved to bargain with her because of her sharp and keen mind. But she was always somewhat timid at meeting strangers and shy, yet very, very fast like quicksilver. From my research, Hermes didn't associate much with the other gods and was extremely quick. Those are the only associations between the two that I can get."

"Oh."

Tomi seemed to realize that she had lost all her overbearing and arrogance. She shot to her feet and straightened her shirt with brusque movements, as if she felt unhinged by her sudden relaxation. "I'm leaving now."

The door slammed shut behind her.

"Does she always do that?" Artemis asked irritably.

"She's not giving up yet."

Her mentor sighed. "I know. She'll keep trying, hoping he'll see the light and give up this 'nonsense'.

"I almost hope she succeeds," Minako murmured.

Mamoru watched Kail covertly every day since Tomi had found out who he was. He could see his friend trying to tell his sister just what being Kunzite all meant, but he was coming up short when it came to understanding. Knowing that she had not only came to him, but also to Minako and Usagi came as quite a shock to the man. He hadn't thought she would go _that _far in her attempts to convince him to give up the role of protector.

Usagi had told her, quite plainly but gently, that she would not put pressure on him to convince Kail to quit the Earthen Knights. Gods knew that sometimes he wished his friend would leave, just so it would relieve his fears of them being injured or dying. But most times he felt happy just having his friends with him, almost unworthy of their undying devotion to him.

"Have you ever considered what this is doing to me?" Tomi demanded, striding up to him and destroying the pleasant silence in the park. A few of the older men and women, who preferred the quiet, stared at her angrily.

"Please keep your voice down," he asked her sternly. "Our identities must remain a secret, as you well know, but also the silence was quiet enjoyable before it was shattered."

He knew he was being rude, but he had found her following him for the past three days and confronting him about actually _ordering_ Kail to quit the Earthen Knights every chance she got. And ever time, he kept telling her the same thing: it didn't work that way.

"Silence be damned, I want my brother out of this," she hissed, though her voice was low so that only he could hear her.

"Then convince him to leave."

"He won't go; you and I both know it."

"And I can't order him to; you and I both know that too."

"Why not? Aren't you supposed to be this legendary prince of old?"

Her scathing comments grated on him, but he refused to give in to his anger. He also refused to tell anyone about the constant harassment he seemed prone to get from her. He wasn't the least bit surprised at how this turned out; it had been in the back of his mind since he had become Tuxedo Kamen for the first time: he knew that someone of his friends' families would find out and they would demand a release from the position on behalf of their family member.

But right now, knowing that didn't make it any easier to deal with the abrasiveness that Tomi constantly spewed at him.

"Look, I explained this once before, but I'll do it again: Yes, I was a prince of old as you put it, but I'm not now. I was not _born_ a prince in this life. Consequently, I don't have the right to order anyone about, least of all my friends. Even as a prince, I wouldn't have ordered the Shitennou about if I wasn't expected to for the people of my kingdom. And I'm under no illusions, like you seem to be, about what would happen if I did order him to leave."

"And what _'illusion' am I under?"_

"The illusion that if I ordered him to stop fighting, he would. Even if, just for the sake of the thing, made the appearance of leaving the Earthen Knights, he would not stop fighting. Every battle he'd find a way to know about and show up. Just because I would have 'officially' announced that I wanted him to leave wouldn't mean that he would follow that."

"Isn't he your protector, your _underling?" She put such venom in her voice that he recoiled a bit. "Doesn't he have to do what you say?"_

"Yes he is my protector, but we are also friends. A friend does not let one go into a fight without the utmost support, whether it is wished for or not."

Tomi's hand gripped the railing hard. "Know this Chiba Mamoru, previously Prince Endymion: if something happens to my brother, I'm going to be taking it out of _your hide first and then this Beryl bitch."_

She stomped off, leaving a cold pit where his stomach used to be. He didn't fear her, but he feared what her temper would do. With her strong and intense desire, also much too foolish idea of her own invincibility, to protect her brother, she might actually get him killed. 

The only problem was she wasn't realizing this.

End Chapter 8.

I know by the title that some people might have been expecting a battle scene. And I thought about putting one in, but then I realized that I already had at least two. Battles don't necessarily have to be physical. Minako had a small 'battle' with Tomi in her room. And poor Mamoru! He had a nasty one with her right now, not to mention for the past three days. This girl just does not let up, does she?

Thanks to everyone who's reading this and reviewing it. It keeps me on track and writing, knowing people want to read this.

And special thanks to Spirit-hime of Peppermint Storm for being the first website (even before Fanfiction.net) to host this story. Go to her site, the best for any Shitennou (manga) information. 

If you read the author's notes, Spirit-hime, this one is special for you: I love your story 'Bleed'! Hurry up and finish Chapter 4 already!

Anyone who hasn't read Bleed needs to as soon as possible. It's the best!


	17. Chapter 17: Contemplation

Author's Note:

The normal disclaimers here of course and that I'm certainly not doing this for money.

There are a few elements that are exclusive to the manga, as you will read, but those only involve character differences than from the anime, such as the Shitennous' relationship. Also, Mamoru has the Golden Crystal. 

If you need to contact me, my email is Guardian4@atlantic.net. Please put fanfiction or something in the subject line so I know what you're emailing me about. And if you're a really nice person (if this pertains to a certain fanfiction that I've done) you might want to put the name of the fanfiction you're referring to somewhere in the email.

All names are like the Japanese say them, last name first. So Kunzite's name would be Kail Rainer in America, but in Japanese it would be said Rainer Kail.

_Army of Immortals_

_Chapter 17: Contemplation_

"Mamoru, what's wrong?"

Zayn's voice cut through his hearing, startling him, and he realized just what he was doing. He was looking over his shoulder nervously, constantly expecting Tomi to show up. 

Lowly, he related the experience to his friend, who whistled in worry. "You're right; she _is going to get him killed if she doesn't stop."_

"What are we going to do about her?"

"I don't know."

Tomi stared at her reflection, hairbrush lax in her hand. What was she doing? She knew what she was _trying to do and that was brush her black hair. But she sighed at her thoughts nonetheless._

She was trying to save her brother's life, but it wasn't working. Her efforts weren't going unnoticed either and she felt his unhappy and rather disapproving stare whenever they met. They didn't talk anymore, either. He never spoke to her over dinner and avoided any quiet talks away from their parents.

And she knew she deserved it. Hadn't she done the same thing to him when she had been in her funk? She kept trying to tell him, in words or notes, that she was only doing it for him, because she loved him. And every time he would tell her in not so many words that while she may love him, what she was doing was not wanted.

Every time she looked at him, she sensed that there was something more there than she could possibly understand. Even though he had told her he wanted her to understand, she was beginning to think that she _couldn't_ understand. There was just something…incomprehensible about this whole thing…

At a loss for any other recourse, she sought out counsel.

"You're Luna, right?"

The black cat opened its eyes and looked down at her from its perch on the branches high above her. Glancing around, only to see no one in view, she answered, "Yes I am. You must be Tomi."

"That's me. Um…I need to talk to you about something."

Luna jumped down and onto her shoulder. "Then talk."

Her attitude was noncommittal for one, and she sensed a deeper displeasure in the feline. Gingerly, she sat down on a bench. "I don't understand, really, anything that Kail's telling me. I mean, facts wise and what they're doing, but I don't understand _why. He's tried to explain it to me, but…"_

"You just can't grasp it," she supplied, her tone ironic.

"That's it. I know I'm making Kail angry that I'm trying to get him away from this whole Earthen Knight business, but…I can't help it."

"We've never really went through this problem with the Senshi and apparently Mamoru never went through it with his friends either," Luna commented, talking aloud, "but I wonder if half the problem is you, plain and simple."

Rather than feeling resentful or angry, she felt inexplicably saddened. "What's the problem?"

"We never had the problem of understanding magic with the Senshi and Knights because they were, deep down, willing to accept it. They also didn't need understanding on a more than surface level, when it came to protecting someone, because they were already attached to the person they protected, hence no problems there.

"Part of your problem is that you're naturally out for yourself. Even protecting your brother isn't what you think it is. The protection you feel for him isn't the same kind as Kail feels for Mamoru. His goes down to a deeper, instinctive level beyond a conscious comprehension. He doesn't need to understand it in order to understand it, if you understand me?" Her smile was ironic at how much understanding was necessary to grasp a simple concept.

"I think so."

"You also are selfish."

"Selfish?" Her anger flared briefly. "How am I selfish?"

"You want to hoard your brother for yourself. Trying to get him away from Minako or Mamoru won't make things any better for you. It only makes things worse since Kail will resent you for it supposing you succeed, which I seriously doubt you would."

"Has anyone ever told you that you're tongue is like a sword?"

"Yes, many times, by Usagi most times though with more whine and less descriptive words."

"You should listen to her; isn't she a princess?"

Luna sighed irritably. "You have a very low grasp of what actually is going on between people. Just because Usagi is a princess and Mamoru is a prince does not mean we are required to scrape and grovel. We counsel as friends and talk as equals. This isn't some novel where implausible things happen, you know."

Tomi stood, shaking the black cat from her shoulder. "Well you were a lot of help."

"You asked."

"I know and now I'm beginning to wish I hadn't," she muttered as she stalked away.

Jayden shifted restlessly beside her, his eyes narrowing as he watched from his hiding place. 

"See what I see?"

"Yup," she answered.

They were watching two of their most intelligent friends verbally skate around the real issue that had brought them together. 

"Are we absolutely sure that they do feel this way about each other?"

Rei snorted in humor. "I'm sure at least Ami-chan does. She's fidgets whenever she's around him and Ami-chan _never fidgets. I actually heard her get flustered on a sentence once when he looked her way. __That never happens either. What about you? Are you sure Zayn feels this way about her?"_

"Not a doubt," he said lowly. "Zayn avoids girls as much as possible, so the mere fact that he approached her first tells me something right there. Two, the man has been talking under his breath, whenever he thinks he's alone, constantly about her. Three, I've seen him go out of his usual path just to get a glimpse of her."

"They got it bad. But they'll never get anywhere without our help."

"They're going nowhere fast," he supplied, agreeing. "So how do we get them together without making it seem like we are?"

"Hmm." She pondered for a moment. "A series of circumstances that keep placing them together, alone?" she suggested.

"That'll work _after we get the ball rolling," he contradicted. "We need something to start this…I got it!" He snapped his fingers triumphantly and turned to her. "We'll set up a double date!"_

"Say what?" she hissed.

"Okay, I have a loose friendship with another guy that the guys don't know him. I can say that I agreed to go on a double date with him because he wasn't sure about this girl he was going out with on a first date. And that I asked you to go with me."

"They'll never believe I went willing with you," Rei said flatly.

"Why not?"

She floundered a bit. "Well…"

"It doesn't matter; make up a reason why you would go. Anyway, we'll say that my friend gave me the tickets to this thing we were going to for safe keeping because he's a little absentminded and was afraid he would lose them the night of the date. Enter in bad circumstances: girl met other guy and broke off date. My friend didn't want to go anywhere since he had really begun to like her. So now I have four tickets that I can't sell but are too good to lose out on and you had already agreed to go. I _have_ to find two other people to go, and this is a _couple_ thing. What do you think?"

She mulled it over. "Sounds infinitely plausible. And I thought up an excuse for how I would agree, so Ami-chan won't think it's weird. The only problem: What _thing are we taking them on?"_

"…I don't suppose you care for ballet?"

"Ballet??"

"Look, it might actually entice our intellectuals and it's the only thing I can get tickets too on such late notice!"

"Who are you getting it from?" she asked suspiciously.

He blushed a bit. "My dad. He runs a theater and can usually get extra tickets for his family."

"All right, I'll talk to Ami-chan tomorrow, you take Zayn."

"Gotcha."

As quietly as they could, they slid from their hiding spots and went their separate ways.

"Ami-chan!"

Ami turned as she called her. "What is it, Rei-chan? You're going in the opposite direction of your school; you'll be late."

"I know, but I have to ask you now because I can't make it to the meeting tonight."

"Ask me what?" she repeated, obviously bewildered.

Rei crossed her fingers behind her back. "Look, Jayden had a friend that wanted to double date with him and he needed someone to go with. He looked so _pathetic_, nearly groveling when he asked me, that I agreed to go. It got me away from Yuuichirou who is annoying me to death."

Rei had made it common knowledge of her intense dislike of the hired help, who adored the ground she walked on. The only reason he hadn't booted him out was because he was actually a good worker and her grandfather was bizarrely attached to the man.

"So…what do you need to ask me about?"

"Okay, well the girl broke the date yesterday, two days before the show we were going to go to is scheduled."

"That would be…tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Since the guy said he was absentminded he gave the tickets to Jayden to hold on to for him. Now the guy won't come out of his room and Jayden has four tickets to this thing that he can't use unless two other people come and are too good to lose. So we thought you and Zayn might come with us?"

Ami tilted her head to one side and studied her. Rei felt herself getting nervous, her palms getting sweaty. She pleaded to all the gods that some amount of…stupidity, naivety, would rub off on the normally studious and aware intellectual. 

"Why would ask me? If you needed a couple, which Zayn and I are not, you could ask Mako-chan and Neil. Or even Minako-chan and Kail or Usagi-chan and Mamoru-san."

"Well…we had thought of those, but then again, we didn't think this would appeal to them at all."

"Where are you going?"

Her fingers cramping because of how hard she had them crossed, she answered, "It's a ballet."

"I've never been to a ballet before," the girl murmured and Rei nearly crowed with success. Anything Ami never tried before and was offered to, she never turned down.

"But I've got to study."

Rei felt as if someone had punched her. Ami? Turn down something she'd never tried before that could be intellectually stimulating??

"But…but…you're our only hope! Usagi-chan would fall asleep five minutes into it, Minako-chan wouldn't understand it at all, and Mako-chan would be whispering about sparring techniques! You _have_ to come!"

Ami sighed in hesitation. "I really don't know. Zayn and I aren't a couple."

_That's precisely the reason we're doing this, numbskull!_ she thought. "_Please_, Ami-chan! I've never asked you for anything before this!"

"All right I give in. I'll go."

This time Rei really did crow with excitement. "Oh _thank you_, Ami-chan. I'll never forget this! Really!"

"Rei-chan?" the blue-haired girl interrupted. "If you don't hurry, you'll be late!"

Suddenly realizing the truth of that statement, Rei turned on her heel and sprinted full out in the other direction.

End Chapter 17.

Trying to get Ami-chan and Zayn together? Good luck, Rei-chan, Jayden!

Thank you for reading this far, peoples!


	18. Chapter 18: Ocean of Love

Author's Note:

The normal disclaimers here of course and that I'm certainly not doing this for money.

There are a few elements that are exclusive to the manga, as you will read, but those only involve character differences than from the anime, such as the Shitennous' relationship. Also, Mamoru has the Golden Crystal. 

If you need to contact me, my email is Guardian4@atlantic.net. Please put fanfiction or something in the subject line so I know what you're emailing me about. And if you're a really nice person (if this pertains to a certain fanfiction that I've done) you might want to put the name of the fanfiction you're referring to somewhere in the email.

All names are like the Japanese say them, last name first. So Kunzite's name would be Kail Rainer in America, but in Japanese it would be said Rainer Kail.

_Army of Immortals_

_Chapter 18: __Ocean__ of __Love___

"I've got it!" Tomi told her reflection that night. "I need to make it up to Kail about what I've doing lately." She had already made a pact with herself that she wouldn't interfere anymore. But she had to do _something _to make it up to her brother.

And she had just the thing…

They agreed it had been a qualified success.

Both Jayden and Rei had kept tabs over the two intellectuals over the course of the evening. When the ballet had started, Ami had had such a rapt expression on her face that it all made it worth it, not to mention she had linked her hand with Zayn's.

For the past week, they had worked their hardest on finding ways to bring the two of them together and it was working!

"I told you the ballet was a good idea," Jayden commented, able to keep most of his smug smirk from his face.

Rei knew it was there and she jabbed him in the ribs as they ascended the stairs to the Hikawa Shrine. "Don't brag."

"I'm not," he lied.

She smiled. "We've left them alone, not a single circumstance contrived by us, for two days. How are they doing?"

"From Zayn's enthusiastic talking? He's living in heaven, that's how _he's _doing. What about Ami?"

"I haven't seen her smile so much in my entire life."

"Speaking of couples," he murmured, sitting down on the steps in front of the door to the Shrine, "how are the others?"

"More specifically, Usagi and Mamoru right?" she finished for him. He nodded, somewhat sheepishly. She shrugged, though she was inwardly pleased at how cheery her friend was. "What can I say? They're Usagi and Mamoru. I can't tell you just how happy she is. She practically _bounces_ wherever she goes. I _heard_ that she and he are already talking about meeting her dad."

"Already?" Jayden stared at her incredulously. "Isn't that a little early?"

"You haven't met her father," Rei replied with a smile. "The earlier she brings them to meet, the more likely he has a chance to live."

His face turned pensive and she longed to know what he was thinking about. "Overprotective?"

"Unbearably so."

Silence fell. Finally she prodded, "What are you thinking about?"

He didn't even look startled at the sudden noise from the quietness. "I'm just thinking about Mamoru."

"What about him?"

Jayden tilted his head and stared at the sky. "The chances of him surviving the final battle against Beryl with all of us with him are slim at best. I don't want to die and leave him alone, but I will if it keeps him alive."

Rei stared at him, floored for a moment about the amount of feeling that the normally carefree man felt. 

But then he suddenly shook of his mood and smiled mischievously. "How about Makoto and Neil?"

"They're at the beach," she answered and let an ironic smile lift her lips when she remembered the sheer bikini that her friend had been wearing. "I think she's in love."

"Well that would make a pair then. Neil…well Neil is weird to describe sometimes, but I will tell you he hasn't looked at a single woman for more than sixty seconds since he and Makoto started going out and he was considered the ladies man of the group. When his thoughts aren't on Makoto, their either on the stars or Mamoru. That's pretty much it. He hasn't touched his schoolwork at all, which is something that Neil hadn't ever really let go like this. The man in head over heels in love."

"Have you seen Minako or Kail lately? I mean it was bad enough that they ditched us today…"

The two groups had planned on a four person sparring session with pairs. But inexplicably, they had declined out of it, leaving Jayden and Rei with nothing to do as they had made no plans for today because of it.

"The only time I've seen Kail was when he told me they couldn't make it to the sparring match," Jayden told her, frowning in confusion and concern. "I understand that he's upset about his sister and normally I wouldn't go past that, but he's been, from I can tell, with Minako every moment of the day. Wonder what they're doing?" A sly smile lifted his lips.

She kicked him lightly. "Keep your thoughts out of the gutter. They won't be doing anything like _that."_

"But it's odd of them to ditch us at the last minute," he murmured. "It's not like Minako or Kail to do that. If something comes up, Kail usually tells me what it is a day in advance if he can wangle the time."

"I know. Minako's like that too, at least most of the time."

A man suddenly appeared in the doorway, his face scruffy with stubble and his brown hair falling into his face. After having known Neil, with his rich, dark red brown hair, she disliked Yuuichirou even more. His resembled stringy bits of pale earthen spaghetti, with about as much life as a dead slug. Overall, even his hazel eyes weren't in comparison to any of who she'd associate with energy and excitement.

"What is it, Yuuichirou?" she questioned, sighing under her breath.

"Sensei says you have chores and he wants you to clean the sacred room."

Her eyebrow twitched in annoyance. How many times had she told him _not_ to call her grandfather 'Sensei'? It wasn't as if he was teaching the man anything! "Tell him I'll be in after I finish my conversation with Jayden. He'll understand."

For the first time, the man who looked to be at least three years older than Rei, noticed Jayden sitting on the steps. Yuuichirou took a step back as if stabbed. He quickly recollected himself and went back inside without another word.

"What was that about?"

"I hate that man, but I can't get rid of him."

"Why not?"

"As much as I hate to admit it, we need the help," she confessed. "This place, while seeming small, is still much too big for just two people to keep clean."

"Hmm. Why don't you just ask a few friends of yours with nothing to do after school if they'd help you out?"

"My friends at school? Not bloody likely. I don't have any friends at that school. Besides, we would need someone that was a live-in. We need the help 24/7."

"Oh. I guess I'd better go then," he said awkwardly, standing up and shifting a little.

"Come see me tomorrow?"

Jayden's face took on pleased surprise. "Sure!"

She looked away, suddenly unsure of the fluttering her stomach was doing. "What's the big deal?"

He touched her hand. "It's a big deal to me. I should tell you this: that night at the ballet, when we got Ami and Zayn there, I wasn't watching them; I was watching you."

A blush stained her cheeks and she looked at him out of the corner of her eye. His face was utterly sincere and solemn, a rarity she now settled upon him. "I…I…"

His fingers touched her cheek so lightly that she was afraid that she imagined it. Automatically her head turned toward that soft touch and he kissed her. At first it was sweet and gentle, but the passion she felt for him changed it.

Jayden finally pulled away, rather reluctantly. "I really should go, but…" He struggled with his next words.

"I know," she interrupted quietly. "I love you too."

"We're supposed to be trying to get Ami and Zayn together, not…"

"Not ourselves," she agreed with amusement and loss of breath. "But we can't help it…"

"Rei!"

Even more hesitantly than he had, she headed for the Shrine, still watching him. He bowed gallantly and strode down the steps, something making his feet light as he almost skipped.

They watched as Jayden walked on Cloud 9 away from the Shrine. Rei, with a private smile, entered the Shrine.

"That went extremely better than I expected," the male voice said.

"I can't believe we managed to get the two of them to ditch Jayden and Rei. They're usually so stubborn, especially for sparring and such," his companion commented.

"Tell me about it. I think those two were dying to have as much own time as they could get."

"Why do you think that is?"

"Because I expect they don't think they'll survive in the final battle against Beryl."

Silence.

"You realize that while we were getting them together, they were trying to get us together?" he told her, finally glancing in Ami's direction.

"Of course. Why did you think I gave in so easily when Rei asked me to that ballet with them?"

"Oh."

She obviously picked up on his disappointment. "I tried to pay attention to them, but with you next to me and the ballet itself, it was much too hard."

Zayn was glad he was hidden so well; the shadows in his hiding place covered his blush. "Well I did manage to get a glimpse of Jayden once or twice before getting distracted and the boy couldn't keep his eyes off Rei."

Her hand slipped into his, startling him. "But their efforts didn't go wasted, did they?"

Was she saying what he _thought she was saying? "No, it didn't. Would…would you like to have dinner with me tomorrow night?"_

"I'd love to."

With secret smiles, they slid from their hiding places and meandered down the street.

End Chapter 18


	19. Chapter 19: Into Oblivion

Author's Note:

The normal disclaimers here of course and that I'm certainly not doing this for money.

There are a few elements that are exclusive to the manga, as you will read, but those only involve character differences than from the anime, such as the Shitennous' relationship. Also, Mamoru has the Golden Crystal. 

If you need to contact me, my email is Guardian4@atlantic.net. Please put fanfiction or something in the subject line so I know what you're emailing me about. And if you're a really nice person (if this pertains to a certain fanfiction that I've done) you might want to put the name of the fanfiction you're referring to somewhere in the email.

All names are like the Japanese say them, last name first. So Kunzite's name would be Kail Rainer in America, but in Japanese it would be said Rainer Kail.

_Army of Immortals_

_Chapter 19: Into Oblivion_

She had them gathered altogether, ready to make it up to Kail even through their skeptical expressions. Tomi had never, though, prepared for any trouble…

The wall of the warehouse flew inward in an explosion of epic proportions. She shook her head, dazedly, and staggered to her feet. Her eyes immediately scanned the room for her brother. Finding him picking himself up from the ground, she heaved a sigh of relief.

At his horrified stare behind her, slowly she turned around to see something out of a nightmare made real. It was grotesque in a way that not even Picasso dreamed of. With a movement so fast her eyes and brain couldn't process it, its arm flew out toward her. 

Tomi dropped to the ground, a small but triumphant grin on her face. _You won't get me that easily!_ But she wasn't used to fighting things like this; she wasn't prepared that it would be smart, anticipate a move like that. A tentacle that made up its other arm wrapped around her waist and drew her to it, holding her like a protective shield.

Her shocked gaze locked with Kail's, straight through that mask covered his eyes. He was horrified, yes, but when she saw him glance to the right she knew why he stayed still, indecisive.

Mamoru, that Prince of old, didn't see the danger coming up from behind him. It was almost as if she was blessed with telepathy; she knew what the options were and what he would choose. He could only save one of them, either Tomi or Mamoru. And from his eyes, she knew that he would save Mamoru.

A slow smile touched her lips, as she suddenly felt a smidgen of the deep devotion for him that her brother had. A small bit of understanding, too. Slowly she nodded, realizing many things she couldn't begin to put into words as she was pulled away and through blackness. Her last thought was that she…understood.

Kail watched in horror as his sister was yanked away from him. But that nod…had she understood why…that he _couldn't abandon Mamoru? Did she understand, wasn't angry at him, that he had chosen over her?_

He spun on his heel and managed to intercept the blow to Tuxedo Kamen's unprotected back with his sword. His friend, having seen Tomi taken away, stared at him in shock.

"What the hell did you do, Kunzite?" he screamed over the noise of battle. "What—Tomi?"

It hurt him, but he shook his head. 

"Damn it, why? You let—Tomi!"

He seemed quite unable to finish a sentence. Kunzite didn't know if he was angry or just too stunned to complete one. 

The battle was a daze for him, fighting the betrayal he felt. The only comfort he could see was the others would understand his choice and why he had done what he had done. Small comfort, but comfort nonetheless.

They fought away the horde, slow step by deliberate step. Beryl's face appeared in the sky above them just as they thought they might have a chance to rest.

"Very, very entertaining warriors of justice," she sneered. "What will you do, Kunzite, now that I have your sister? I am not so stupid as to not notice something so obvious and obvious your guilt is over choosing Endymion over her."

The only consolation to be found was that she had not seemed to know who their civilian lives were.

"But I expected nothing less of the most devoted Knight," the dark queen continued. She sighed theatrically. "Now I have this girl that I don't know anything to do with. Should I just hand her over to my youma or," Her casual tone sharpened and she stared hard at Kunzite, "does she have a use? I will make you a deal, fighters. Would you care to hear it?"

"What choice do we have?" Nephrite muttered.

"You come to my home, all ten of you, and come and get her. I'll hand her over if at least one of you reaches my throne room. A little amusement for me, a little test for you. Well? What do you say? I'll even open a portal for you. Oh, but you'll have to make your decision soon; those sounds don't bode well for you."

Indeed, carried on the wind were the noises of police sirens.

"How about this: I'll give you a day to think about my offer, but no longer. If you haven't decided one way or another, she'll die." With that, her face wavered and faded away in the sunlight.

Not five seconds later, at least seven police cars skidded to a stop in front of them. Officers jumped out and pointed their guns with hard faces. The Senshi, with only one thought in their minds, surrounded their princess, their eyes daring the men and women of law enforcement to shoot.

Kunzite stood still even though every instinct yelled at him to follow his comrades' leads and protect his prince. But his feelings jumbled in his head and heart; he didn't know what to do. He knew without a doubt that Beryl's 'deal' was a trap, but what else was he supposed to do? Was it finally time to take the battle to Beryl's doorstep? Time to finish this once and for all? The second-in-command of the Earthen Knights certainly hoped so.

Through all his thoughts, the police were talking, probably reading them their rights. It was so sudden he didn't know where it came from or how to stop it.

"SHUT UP!" Kunzite shouted. "Just SHUT UP!"

Silence.

His breathing heavy, he glared the men and women in front of him down. "Look, we've just been through a very, VERY strenuous battle. I don't care what you want to do, but you are NOT arresting us, do you understand me? We have enough problems right now without having to break out of jail AGAIN! We are absolutely innocent and we can prove it!"

Zoisite leaned near him and whispered, "We can?"

"You can?" asked a man skeptically.

"Yes." He made an effort to calm down and succeeded, but barely. By this time, everyone's attention was on him. "Zoisite and Mercury are our medics. They will go to your morgue and show you the details that you will have missed; details that will prove that they are not human, least of all police officers!"

The leading officer put in a call to his superior. After a moment of talking, he nodded grudgingly. "We'll take you to the court and you can put forth your suggestion to the judge. If he okays it, then your companions may prove your innocence that way."

Not ten minutes later Mercury and Zoisite found themselves in the morgue. 

"_What differences are there in the illusion to prove that we're innocent?" the man hissed in her ear._

"There is one thing that illusion can't change," she admitted, "but it is something that most of them wouldn't think to look at."

The doctor waited patiently while she typed on her computer, showing Zoisite what he was looking for. Realization donned and he hit his forehead in exasperation. "Of course!" he muttered.

They approached the table with a youma/human lying on it…

Jadeite paced in the small room while his friends watched. "How long are they going to take?" he demanded. "It's already been half an hour!"

"Calm down, Jadeite," Tuxedo Kamen soothed, though he was as nervous and anxious as his friend.

The blue colored Knight didn't even pause in his strides. He looked helplessly at Mars.

With a sigh, the Soldier of War stood up and touched her boyfriend's hand. "Please stop doing that. You're going to wear a track in the flooring."

He managed to smile and forced himself to sit down.

Mamoru glanced at his second-in-command in concern. Kunzite, after his speech at the nearly fallen apart warehouse, had said nothing except to tell the judge his suggestion to prove their innocence. He also noticed that he was not the only one worried about his friend. Venus kept watching him out of the corner of her eye every five minutes.

Sailor Moon leaned on his shoulder and he automatically put his arm around his beloved. She snuggled closer to his warmth, but he knew it was not because she was physically cold. 

"Between the police and Beryl, who has time for anything else?" she muttered. "I haven't talked to Luna all day and she expected me back home an hour ago. Do you think Beryl plans for a trap?"

"I'd be my entire apartment on yes," he replied grimly. "But its time to finish this."

"Yes. It's time to finish this."

The door to the empty courtroom opened and the judge entered, followed by the twelve jury members. 

"Your innocence has been proven to our satisfaction. It is being announced the public as we speak."

Mamoru stood and bowed solemnly to the judge. "Our thanks. But we really must go."

He let them pass, but a jury member, a woman with gray hair and a fair complexion, touched his Venus' arm. "Is this going to be over soon?" There was fear in her eyes and hope, as if she didn't dare believe that the attacks that could possibly destroy the Earth be stopped.

The blonde warrior glanced at her leader and friends. Finally she turned back to the woman. "Yes. One way or another, it _will_ be over soon."

"Promise me one thing," she called as they started to move on toward the door. "Promise me, as a representative of Japan's population, that you all will come back."

It was the one statement that could have stopped all ten of them in their tracks. They turned to look at her earnest expression, eyes moving to all the other jurors and judges faces, seeing the exact copy of hers on theirs. 

"Why?" whispered Zoisite.

"Because…because…because all the people in Japan need you! Do you realize how many people look up to you? If you were to…not come back…what would happen to Japan? You're its hero, _our _hero. You…just have to come back!"

"We…we didn't know we were appreciated that much," Jupiter murmured, her face a little thunderstruck.

"You're more than appreciated," the judge answered with a warm smile.

"So promise the people of Japan that you will come back! You will come back, all ten of you, and tell us that it's over!" the female juror finished.

Sailor Moon stepped toward her a little. "We promise. All ten of us will come back and tell the people of Japan that…it's over."

They slipped out of the courtroom and bounded away toward their respective homes. Each of them had a few goodbyes to say to friends or family; in case they _didn't _make it back together.

End Chapter 19.

Almost done. Chapter 20 will start the spiraling chapters that will finish this story. Woo-hoo right? There won't be a second one to this though, before any fans ask. I definitely toyed with the idea, but I can't see much else to say or a future beyond this one. But hey, then I'll have the extra time to get The Last Journey underway!

Speaking of sequels, once The Last Journey has reached around Chapter 9, which isn't as long as it sounds (I write chapters very fast), the sequel to Return of the Valkyries will be started. I don't have a title for it yet, but it will soon.

Thank you for reading this far and good luck and many ideas come to every fanfiction writer out there, especially Evil Authoress Inc. I loved Chapter 4, by the way Spirit-hime. Anyone who hasn't visited Peppermint Storm () must go there ASAP. It's the best site out there for information on the manga Shitennou.


	20. Chapter 20: Final Destination

Author's Note:

The normal disclaimers here of course and that I'm certainly not doing this for money.

There are a few elements that are exclusive to the manga, as you will read, but those only involve character differences than from the anime, such as the Shitennous' relationship. Also, Mamoru has the Golden Crystal. 

If you need to contact me, my email is Guardian4@atlantic.net. Please put fanfiction or something in the subject line so I know what you're emailing me about. And if you're a really nice person (if this pertains to a certain fanfiction that I've done) you might want to put the name of the fanfiction you're referring to somewhere in the email.

All names are like the Japanese say them, last name first. So Kunzite's name would be Kail Rainer in America, but in Japanese it would be said Rainer Kail.

_Army of Immortals_

_Chapter 20: Final Destination_

"Mom?"

"Yes Neil?" she said automatically, without turning away from the stove.

He shifted a little, filled with nerves. "Look, I know that we haven't really talked, not since…Matthew's death," She winced, obviously remembering his one and a half year old brother who had died of leukemia two years ago, "but I wanted to tell you…I love you."

Surprised, she turned and stared at him. "What's…this all about?"

"Well, I guess since Matthew died, the reason I've spent so much time studying is to make up for his death. I know it hit you really hard, but I wanted you to know that I love you and that I'm still here."

She turned away. "You should tell that to your father."

His father had drawn away from his family since the death. "I also…wanted you to meet someone."

Neil reached out and grabbed Makoto's hand, dragging her into the kitchen. With a sigh, she turned around and promptly dropped her jaw in shock. "Neil, have you got a girlfriend?"

"You sound like it was something you didn't think would ever happen to him," Makoto said indignantly on his behalf.

Surprising him, as she had not done it in so long he thought she forgot how to do it, his mother laughed long and hard. "I had begun to worry if he ever would. For the past two years, he's buried himself in his studies. I thought he would marry his books!"

Makoto smiled just as his father entered the house. His mother, animated with life for the first time for a long time, practically bounded out of the room. "Dear! You won't believe this, but Neil has a girlfriend! He brought her around for supper!"

"Supper?" the girlfriend in question whispered in his ear.

He shrugged. "First for me. She hasn't been this…lively for a long time. Who _knows_ what she'll do." But he smiled nonetheless. Perhaps Makoto was the catalyst to bringing his family back together again.

His girlfriend smiled, somewhat hesitantly, at his father who greeted her as if she was god-sent. After a few questions, he pronounced her much too good for Neil which prompted laughter all around. 

_Makoto has changed my life so much, he thought lovingly as he sat at the table with his family and girlfriend. __I just hope…my parents are acting like they're human instead of zombies now and it's because of Mako-chan. I just…I hope that we all make it back to continue like this. If I don't come back, or Makoto, my parents might just slit their wrists._

Zayn watched his father from under the cover of his thick lashes. Ami had just left not five minutes ago and already his father looked to be planning the wedding. Not a bad thing, just, at this point in the war against Beryl, dangerous. 

"Dad?"

He turned. "Yes?"

For a moment, all Zayn could do was stare at him. He wanted to say he loved him, all the things he wanted to say, but if he did, he would only scare his father. With an inward sigh, he said instead, "Want to play a little Playstation? Need 4 Speed?"

A smile. "You want to get beat again?"

Though he felt none of the cheer, he summoned up some enthusiasm just for appearance's sake. "You won't beat me, old man."

An hour passed, Zayn indeed getting beaten three times in a row. His father glanced at the clock and whistled. He glanced up as well. _10:45. "Time for bed. Got to get up early for work tomorrow. What about you?"_

"I just have to finish up some calculus work, but I'll be asleep shortly after that."

He nodded and trumped up the stairs. Zayn followed a minute later. But when he sat down at his desk, he didn't open his textbook. Rather, he found a piece of blank stationary that had belonged to his mother and picked up a pen. Nothing came to his hand for so long and he began to wonder if there was a way to phrase what he wanted to say.

_"Dear Dad,_

_            You probably won't believe this, but_

He crossed out the sentence in frustration and began again.

_"Dear Dad,_

_            I love you, you know that, but there is something_

His pen nearly went flying in as he violently scratched out another beginning. But as he nearly lost his temper, his angel appeared in his mind, a time when he had been having such problems with an equation. _"Calm down, Zayn,"_ she had said lowly. _"You'll never get anywhere if you get angry. Just clear your mind and then you'll know."_

Taking a deep breath, he did as she had said. The same as what happened with the equation took hold and he knew how to say it.

_"Dear Dad,_

_Please don't be upset that I'm not here. I might not ever come back, but it isn't because of you. I love you so much that it hurts, just as much as I love Ami. But there are things that you don't know. I promise, though, that if I DO come back, I'll tell you everything you want to know. If I don't…if I don't make it, a white or a black cat will come to you and give you something. Please treasure it, keep it safe and away from any eyes but yours. I know you ask 'don't make what', but that will be explained if I come back._

_I love you._

_                                    --Zayn._

With a sad sigh, he slipped down the hall and opened his father's door. The low snoring reassured him that he was asleep. He couldn't help it; he stared at his father's sleeping face for nearly twenty minutes before remembering why he had come there. Softly he slipped the folded note under a heavy hand settled on the pillow.

Zayn closed the door and snuck out the window. He couldn't stay in his house, not knowing how his father would be close to suicide once he read the note. 

There she stood on the sidewalk, not a block from his home. He had no idea how she would know he wanted to see her. But she didn't say anything except her slip her hand into his. He brought it to his lips and with sad eyes, kissed it. A blush stained her cheeks, but she touched her lips to his. 

Knowing he might not get the chance to hold her ever again, he clutched her to him. "I love you, Ami-chan."

"I love you too, Zayn."

"Where _is that girl?" demanded Rainer senior irately._

Kail looked up from the book he wasn't really reading. "She's…she's…" His hand nearly cramped as he fought tears. How could he tell his father that she might be dead? "She's…she said to tell you that she's sorry about what she's been doing, staying out late and all. She said that she was going to spend the night with her friends, her last night with them."

This obviously shocked the older man, as he didn't say anything more. But his mother, he knew, could see the difficult time he had controlling his emotions. For fear that she would say something or figure out the truth, he fled upstairs.

But he entered Tomi's room instead. Slowly he picked up her cell phone and dialed a number he had memorized long ago. 

"Moshi Moshi, Aino residence."

"Is Aino Minako there?"

"Who is this?" asked a suspicious female voice.

"Rainer Kail, her…boyfriend."

"Young man, what are you doing calling so late? You should—"

"It's okay Mom," he heard in the background and a scuffle. Obviously she had wrestled the phone away.

"What's the matter, Kail?"

"Can you ask?"

There was silence for a moment and then a door opening and closing. "You had to choose, Kail. You had to choose."

"But Minako, I had to choose between my prince and my sister! My mother suspects something, but how do I tell her that she might be dead?"

"You don't because we're going to get her back."

"I won't lose you, Aino Minako, Sailor Venus," he told her sternly.

"And you won't lose Mamoru either. We'll all come back together, I promise."

"How can you know?"

She sighed. "I don't, but we have to."

He paused. "Minako?"

"Yes?"

"If you had a sister or brother and you had to choose between Usagi and them who would you have chosen?"

The warrior was silent for a long time. "I would have chosen Usagi."

"Why?"

"Because she would have the greatest chance of defeating Beryl and getting back my sister or brother alive."

"You're thinking in numbers, strategies, logic. I didn't today," he whispered, distraught. "All I could think about was that I would die if Mamoru was taken again. And what really scares me is that if I had the choice, I would do it again. Do I really love my sister?"

"Yes, you do. But don't you see it, Kail? Tomi understood. You love Mamoru and she knew that. I also think she believes that you will get her back alive. She has faith in our abilities. Besides it's easier to think logic when the situation's over and the decision is already made. Hindsight is twenty/twenty after all."

"You're right, it is. When we come back, I want to introduce you to my parents. Is that okay?"

He knew as if he was there that she was blushing. "Of course. I love you, Kail. I've loved you since the Silver Millennium, though I never told you."

"Never told me? You never had the chance to tell me, nor I you. There was only one meeting before Beryl destroyed our hope and the Moon along with it. And Minako?"

"Yes?"

"I love you too."

She sat next to her grandfather and meditated, ignoring the thunder and lightning that flickered outside. The Fire crackled and spit, feeding off her agitation that she was trying to dissolve.

"It's no use, Ojii-chan," she said despairingly. "I can't concentrate at all."

The old man sighed and opened his eyes. "I understand. That's what I felt the day your mother died. You just have to accept what comes without knowing about it first."

Rei made her way back to her room and switched on her stereo system. It immediately spouted Santana's "Black Magic Woman", the slow and deliberate melody blending nicely with the rain.

_Got a black magic woman_

_Got a black magic woman.___

_I got a black magic woman_

_Got me so blind I can't see_

_That she's a black magic woman_

_She's tryin' to make a devil out of me._

She remembered Jayden had once said that the song had suited her. That she had snared him out of himself and into a spiraling of love.

_Don't turn your back on me baby_

_Don't turn your back on me baby._

_Yes, don't turn your back on me baby_

_Stop messin' round with your tricks_

_Don't turn your back on me baby_

_You just might pick up my magic sticks._

Her mind wandered the treaded roads of worry that she'd gone over and over all day. She hoped with all her heart that they'd all make it out, but she had no real hope of it at all. When Beryl had all the cards, there was no hope anywhere to be had.

_Got your spell on me baby_

_Got your spell on me baby._

_Yes you got your spell on me baby_

_Turning my heart into stone_

_I need you so bad - magic woman_

_I can't leave you alone._

"Ojii-chan?" she murmured, knowing he was there without needing to see him. "I love you. And I'll never regret the time I spent at the Shrine. It was the best thing that could have ever happened to me."

He answered from the doorway. "I love you too, my Rei. I'll accept whatever happens. If you don't come back, tell your mother I love her and I'll join you both soon. If you do…then it'll be a while before I see her."

She smiled through her tears, tears that had fallen without her notice. "I will."

End Chapter 20.

I don't own the song "Black Magic Woman" by Santana, etc etc. This is the starting of the end of this fanfiction, so be prepared for chapters to go up soon after each other. The spiraling down to the end will take up my time so The Last Journey won't be worked on. But shortly after Army of Immortals is finished, expect another chapter of that up.

Thank you all fans for reading and the wonderful reviews! And for anyone who asked what showed how it was not human and youma from Chapter 19, well…you might find out in Chapter 21. A little teaser there.


	21. Chapter 21: In the Hour of Sunrise

Author's Note

The normal disclaimers here of course and that I'm certainly not doing this for money.

There are a few elements that are exclusive to the manga, as you will read, but those only involve character differences than from the anime, such as the Shitennous' relationship. Also, Mamoru has the Golden Crystal. 

If you need to contact me, my email is Guardian4@atlantic.net. Please put fanfiction or something in the subject line so I know what you're emailing me about. And if you're a really nice person (if this pertains to a certain fanfiction that I've done) you might want to put the name of the fanfiction you're referring to somewhere in the email.

All names are like the Japanese say them, last name first. So Kunzite's name would be Kail Rainer in America, but in Japanese it would be said Rainer Kail.

_Army of Immortals_

_Chapter 21: In the Hour of __Sunrise___

Usagi linked her arm with Mamoru's outside her house. "I'm worried, Mamo-chan. I don't want my Senshi to be hurt, but I don't want to lose the Ginzuishou to Beryl."

"Neither do I. But I may have a plan. Let's find Luna and Artemis."

It didn't take long. The two felines were on the edge of the wall and enjoying the sinking sun. When Mamoru explained his plan, they were still quite skeptical. "But what if—"

"Usagi-baka, what are you doing out here?"

She turned to see her brother entering the house. Her eyes softened and she walked up to him. His surprised look was almost enough to make her laugh, shock that she didn't rise to take the bait.

"Shingo, I have a favor to ask you."

His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What?"

Slowly, she unclipped the necklace around her neck and handed it to him. "Could you look after this for me? Don't tell Mom or Dad about this, please." Then in her other clenched hand, she handed him another necklace, the low brightness of the sun barely touching it.

"What are these? Where did you get them?" 

"One is Mamoru's. Could you look after these for us?"

"Why?"

"Please Shingo."

Shingo looked long and hard at his sister's solemn face and slowly nodded. "Sure. I'll look after it until you get back. But where are you going?"

"Don't worry about that. Just keep them safe and hidden until I get back."

He shrugged, put the jewels in his pocket, and entered the house.

"Are you absolutely sure about this?" Luna asked quietly.

"Yes," Mamoru answered for her.

"I just have one question for you, Ami," Jadeite said as he sauntered up to the teenagers meeting in the shadow of an arcade center as the sun was rising.

"What?" The girl looked up from her computer a moment later with question in her eyes.

"How in the hell did you prove they were youma?"

She smiled slightly. "A stroke of genius, thinking of it, I'd say. Look at this. This is a human and this is a youma." With a few clicks, she had the two images were side by side on her computer screen. "Now watch when I combine them. What's different?"

He studied the new picture and blinked in surprise. "The tongue is on the upper part of the mouth."

"Yes. You see, youma can't really talk the way we do. Their talking is more or less a system of strange sounds that form words we can understand by magic. Beryl was counting on the fact that they wouldn't look in the mouth, and she was right. My calculations say that the sheer amount of energy to put on this illusion fell short at the last steps and she couldn't make an illusionary tongue in the right place. If she had, there would have no way to prove youma." She shrugged. "Or she didn't really think about the youma/humans needing a tongue in the right place.

"The entire mouth wasn't a human mouth. Not only was the tongue attached to the top of the mouth, and it was obvious that it had developed there over the years like our tongue growing larger as we grow older, but the gum system wasn't made for holding teeth of the youma. She barely managed to get the teeth of a human in there and even then, if the coroner had noticed the teeth, even he would have said that they had serious dental problems. There was also no vocal box where one should be," she added as an afterthought.

Jadeite shook his head. "Right," he muttered, his voice somewhat dazed.

"All right, girls, boys, let's henshin up!" Artemis yelled as he dropped in the middle of the group.

"Moon Crisis Power!"

"Mercury Crystal Power!"

"Mars Crystal Power!"

"Jupiter Crystal Power!"

"Venus Crystal Power!"

"MAKE-UP!"

Golden light intertwined with pink ribbons in the close confines of the alley. Lightning slammed against fire rings; water edged flying stars. Black hair touched a long, blonde streamer; a white gloved hand attached to a blue Senshi brushed against a green skirt. Light blue eyes opened and locked with violet; white bow lengths coiled around a blue booted foot.

Neil whistled quietly as they posed. "That's flashy but exciting. I guess it doesn't bother them that they henshined in the nearly same space and were naked for a time."

"Were you watching us?" demanded Mars angrily.

"Absolutely not," Zayn assured her hastily.

"Well what are you waiting for? We haven't got all day," snapped Luna, obviously not at all thrilled with the idea of going through, at Beryl's invitation, a portal into the Dark Kingdom.

"Knight Kunzite!" Kail said, with a clenched fist over his heart.

"Knight Jadeite!" Jayden shouted, a palm facing outward.

"Knight Zoisite!" Zayn yelled his to the sky, two fingers over his shoulder.

"Knight Nephrite!" Neil barely whispered his, a loose fist held up to the stars.

"You are called!" they finished loudly.

Mamoru simply smiled and winked at Sailor Moon before dark golden light swirled around him. Out of its wake, a black cape formed, red lining the inside. With the light traveling up his body from his feet, his jeans dissolved into black pants and his t-shirt turning into a white top with a black jacket. The mask appeared, edged in white. He held a rose in his hand as he posed, almost as if he was leaning against a wall.

Kail's arms lifted from his sides, the twin swords appearing. Silver light churned around the blades, identical golden dragons developing on each. Crossing the swords over his chest, a breastplate appeared, designed with diamonds. Loose, dark silver pants changed from his jeans and his shoes disappeared in a flash as leg armor flowed its way up his knees. A mask edged in silver covered his eyes as a cloak flared from his shoulders, black with white lining inside. He posed with one sword at his side and the other pointing in front of him.

Jayden snapped his fingers and blue light shined around his head. What looked like a swirling blade flew downward to his feet, making him shine sapphire. His shirt changed to dark brown leather armor. A bandolier flew from his shoulder to his waist, supporting a bow and arrow on his back. His brown jeans morphed into blackish blue pants elegantly embroidered with a small firebird on the outside of each pant leg. A mask edged in blue formed in front of his eyes and with a sound of silk cutting the air, a black cloak with dark cobalt inside appeared. He drew his bow, an graceful affair with rubies embedded in the wood, and an arrow appeared. He held it aloft, pointing forward.

Zayn drew his two fingers down from his shoulder to his waist in a diagonal line. In its wake, green light flowed over his body. A belt snapped around his shapely waist, with a buckle carved from an emerald. A lighter breastplate than Kail's formed over his shirt, the latter changing to a forest jade tunic. Brown pants only accentuated his hunter green boots. The mask covering his eyes edged in emerald emerged, matching his black and olive cape. In his open hands, a spear appeared, the body steel but tinted light blue. The tip itself looked sharp enough to rend flesh, a smaller blade just below it so it looked double bladed. Carved into the steel tip was the symbol for the medical profession. He held it at his side, posing, his back straight as the weapon in his hand.

Neil's eyes glowed burgundy brown and with a graceful wave of his hand, brown gloves covered both of them. That burgundy brown light flowing up his arms like a separate entity and met at his neck, forming long red sleeves. It divided, going up his face and down his body. A mask shaped in the passing of the light going up his face, a mask edged in dark red. As the light going down passed his shoulders, it divided again and the offspring formed a cape from thin air, black and wine-red. The tunic finished materializing just before a heavy breastplate locked around his chest. Gray-brown pants flashed into being, and leg armor appeared, much the same as Kail's. A bandolier flew around his chest like Jayden, and he pulled with careless ease a great double-bladed axe, a star shaped from emeralds in the center, from his back. Posing, he leaned on the axe, which was almost tall enough to reach his waist.

The five men grinned in a satisfactory way at the wide eyes of the women in front of them.

"Well…" Venus managed to say, sounding a tad out of breath and staring, "that was…um…"

"Very nice," Mercury supplied, though her eyes spoke of the inadequacy of the two words.

"Thanks," Jadeite with a smile.

"Does anyone know where or when Beryl is going to issue her invitation again?" Nephrite asked in the silence.

"Any moment I would hope," Jupiter muttered. "I hate waiting."

It was not five minutes later when Beryl's face appeared in the sky above them. "Have you decided?"

"We'll come," Tuxedo Kamen answered darkly.

"Oh good," she said, an insincere smile on her lips. "I was so hoping you would."

The air swirled and a black rip in the dimensional barrier opened. With trepidation, they disappeared into it followed by the eyes of two cats.

"All right, let's get to that throne room," Venus directed. "No splitting up for now, but if we get waylaid, as many as can get out go on ahead. At least one of us needs to get to that throne room."

Nods all around and they broke into a run. Not ten feet in front of them a score of youma waited for them. If they hadn't been expecting it, they would have died in the first skirmish. 

"Venus Wink Chain Sword!"

"Supreme Thunder!"

Jupiter's lighting surrounded the golden sword of Venus' as it flew at the youma. "Go! Jupiter and I will hold them off! Get to the throne room!"

Over Sailor Moon's loud protests, the eight of them proceeded on, running for all they were worth. The wall exploded behind them and as more youma poured out and headed for them, they knew they were cut off from the two Senshi.

"Ice Barrage!"

"Meteor Storm!"

A multitude of ice spears and Nephrite's fire-surrounded meteors slammed into the oncoming flood, knocking around half of the numbers down.

"Go! Mercury will be able to show you the way with her computer. And Kunzite? Look after her for me," Zoisite said quietly.

This time dragging a protesting Tuxedo Kamen away, they sped down the corridor that had no branches nor twists and turns. "What is it with this hallway?" demanded Mars.

"It's obvious that Beryl doesn't want us getting lost," Kunzite said dryly.

It was silent except for the running of their booted feet. Soon it began to wear on their nerves more than an attack would. Perhaps…

Kunzite never got to finish that thought as he threw himself in front of his friend. The thrown knife bounced off his armor, hardly even scratching it. A lone but quick youma assassin melted from the shadows. The second-in-command drew his swords as Mercury shouted out where it was.

Mars and Jadeite grabbed respective arms and thrust their leaders to run with them. 

"Is that it?" questioned Jadeite, out of breath as they saw a door looming in front of them.

"That's it," Tuxedo Kamen confirmed. 

But there were at least five youma in front of them. Without even pausing in their running, shouted attacks bounded toward the guards.

"Mars Snake Fire!"

"Molten Fire!"

"Tuxedo La Smoking Bomber!"

"Moon Frisbee!"

Four youma shattered into dust and the last one dodged out of the way as they passed. Just before the warriors could take in the significance of that move, they were in the throne room and surrounded by more than twenty dozen youma. 

"All right Beryl," Jadeite gasped. "We made it, so give Tomi back."

The dark queen laughed. "You are all so gullible. Did it occur to wonder why I left you a straight corridor to my throne room? You're right where I want to be. Dear child, say hello to your would-be rescuers."

Tomi sat gloomily in a cage and rolled her eyes. "I can't believe you fell for it."

"Please, enjoy my hospitality." Beryl snapped her fingers and the four of them were dragged apart.

"Now, Serenity, Endymion, please give me the Golden Crystal and Ginzuishou," she said pleasantly as Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen were strung up high.

End Chapter 21.


	22. Chapter 22: Sacred Grounds

Author's Note

The normal disclaimers here of course and that I'm certainly not doing this for money.

There are a few elements that are exclusive to the manga, as you will read, but those only involve character differences than from the anime, such as the Shitennous' relationship. Also, Mamoru has the Golden Crystal. 

If you need to contact me, my email is Guardian4@atlantic.net. Please put fanfiction or something in the subject line so I know what you're emailing me about. And if you're a really nice person (if this pertains to a certain fanfiction that I've done) you might want to put the name of the fanfiction you're referring to somewhere in the email.

All names are like the Japanese say them, last name first. So Kunzite's name would be Kail Rainer in America, but in Japanese it would be said Rainer Kail.

_Army of Immortals_

_Chapter 22: Sacred Grounds_

"I don't have it," Sailor Moon gritted through her clenched teeth.

"What do you mean '_you don't have it'_?" screeched Mars, Beryl, and Tomi. The youma shifted nervously, awaiting orders and receiving none.

The dark queen stared in shock and turned to Endymion. "Endymion, perhaps with your Golden Crystal, she would be more apt to see the light and tell me _where it is!" she hissed._

He laughed painfully. "I don't have the Golden Crystal either."

"You _what?" demanded Tomi, Beryl, and Jadeite._

"We don't have what you want Beryl. You surely didn't think we were stupid, did you?" questioned the leader of the Sailor Senshi.

"What happened to them?"

It would have been funny to see a Senshi, a Knight, a civilian, and a dark queen yelling simultaneously. But there was nothing humorous about the current situation.

"It's in a place you'll never get to, Beryl," Tuxedo Kamen said smugly.

The fact that they were lying, that it wasn't a place but a person she would never get, he didn't see fit to mention. He knew the only way to make it seem convincing to her when they went through her portal to leave his friends out of the loop. If they had evidenced any kind of hope she would have caught on and possibly killed Tomi.

"_Where is it?" shrieked the four of them again._

Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen exchanged superior smiles.

Shingo tapped frantically on the keys of his controller, sitting cross-legged on the floor, trying to get in a quick burst of power and finish the enemy in front of his street-fighter character. "Come on, come on, come on," he chanted, leaning forward until he was nearly double over.

"Damn," he muttered in frustration as he died and the continue screen popped up.

"You have no time to be playing a game like that!" snapped a female voice.

The boy started violently and stared at the window. In jumped his sister's black cat and stared at him in disapproval. "What on earth do you think you're doing when Usagi-chan and Mamoru-san trusted you to take care of the crystals?"

The TV screen flickered back to the menu as the ten seconds to choose if he wanted to continue ran out. "Damn," he muttered again, but distractedly. Another cat, this one white, jumped in his room. From below in the living room, his mother called up, "Hurry up Shingo or you'll be late for school!"

He shut off the Playstation® and immediately set about getting ready for his normal school day. Luna, irritated at the lack of response, leapt onto his shoulder and nearly shouted in his ear. 

Shingo winced. "Cats don't talk," he muttered to himself.

The white cat scratched his hand. "We haven't time for this. You have been entrusted with a grave task indeed. Usagi-chan and Mamoru-san gave you those crystals to watch over carefully. But at present, we need to get you to a safe place. Your life is in severe danger right now and if you don't listen to us and do what we say, you'll be forfeiting the world's existence."

"What on earth are you two talking about?" he hissed at them, forgetting that normally cats _couldn't talk._

"The gem resembling a topaz," lectured Luna, "is the Golden Crystal of Mamoru-san's. The diamond-resembling one is the Ginzuishou belonging to Usagi-chan. They are the keys to saving this world and they were entrusted to you because your sister believed you would protect them. Put them on and tuck them in your shirt. No one must see them. You are then to sneak out of this house without your parents knowing."

Infected by a sense of urgency and fear, he did as told. As quietly as he could he slipped down the stairs, but stopped as he peered around the doorframe. His father was sitting in the living room and there was no way he could pass without getting caught that way. His mother, making no attempt at concealment, loudly walked toward the stairs. He fled back up, but instead of going back in his room, he ducked into his sister's.

The front door was out of the question now. Usagi's window caught his eye and the tree just outside of it gave him an idea. Carefully moving, as his bag might upset his balance, he managed to climb out and into the tree. He slipped halfway down his scaling and fell with a thud on the ground.

Like shadows in the morning, the two felines approached him quickly. "Hurry. Follow us."

He had to run full out to keep up. Because he was so small, he had no trouble dodging the adults on the street and he heard mutters behind him as they wondered why he was not in school.

Shingo hadn't the slightest clue as to what this was all about, but some kind of instinctual urge kept him following the cats. He was gasping before long and with a backward glance, the white cat muttered something to Luna. They allowed him to rest in the shadow of an alley, away from prying eyes.

"What's going on?" he demanded, clutching a stitch in his side.

With hesitation written in every line of her body, Luna answered, "Usagi-chan is Sailor Moon, formerly Princess Serenity." He received a quick rundown on the current situation and where his sister really was.

"But…if I have these two crystals, how can they defeat this Beryl person?"

She didn't respond to the question. Instead, she hurried on to another topic. "We're taking you to a safe place until the Senshi and Knights either come back or Beryl takes over if they fail to stop her. If the latter happens, you will be the Earth's only hope."

"Control room, do you think, Luna?" Artemis, as he now learned the white cat was called, asked skeptically.

"No, it's not secure enough. We'll have to trust Mamoru-san's judgment and follow his directions. Come on, Shingo."

He pelted after the two smaller beings toward a hill. Just in the distance he could see some stone stairs leading up to a small building he guessed was a shrine of some sort, considering the people there. His legs aching after all the running he'd done, he forced some more life in them as he struggled up the hill.

"Stand here."

Managing to stagger to where the cats were, he paused to catch his breath. Then like a gradually, but quickly, rising sun, golden light came to life under his feet. Shingo screeched in a completely undignified way, out of alarm and fear.

Like a net being pulled in the exact center, the three of them were sucked into the Earth. It descended rapidly, almost like an elevator. "Where are we?" he demanded after nearly twenty minutes and it finally stopped. He hesitantly got off and looked around cautiously.

It was absolutely beautiful, wherever they were. Roses abounded everywhere, red as wine. Thick green grass cushioned his feet and gripped with a sudden urge, he pulled off his shoes and socks. It was as soft as a wonderfully made carpet. Not too far to his right was a huge building, marble and golden veneer. Spirals of red and gold flew up the columns on the outside. The 'sky' was as light as he could wish it, almost as if it had a miniature sun around there somewhere. A walkway was just ahead of him, the white stone absolutely gorgeous and not a stone unplaced or cracked. So thick it paled against any other bushes there, roses grew and flourished. It might as well have been an impenetrable wall. He couldn't see what was at the end of that long stretch of walkway.

"This place…is beautiful," he whispered reverently.

_Thank you. It is my favorite place to be._

Shingo started nervously and turned. A stunning woman meandered up to them. But there was something strange about her, besides the fact that she had somehow managed to speak into his head. She was inhumanly beautiful, with long black hair and deep golden eyes. Her dress was pale cream, and would have trailed on the ground if it had a hem. Instead, it simply dissolved into mist around her ankles.

"Who…?"

_I am Terra. I am Gaia. You have so many names for me that I can't remember them all. I am the spirit of the Earth. I prefer the name Terra, though._

Though her mouth moved, his ears didn't register sound. It was spoken straight into his head, her melodious but soft voice ringing around.

"Where is this place?"

_Please make yourself comfortable. She looked to the building at his right and following the two cats, he entered it._

It was even grander on the inside than the outside. The rooms were huge, for one, all gold and pale white marble. Stairs headed up to another level where he could see, if he squinted a little, another set of stairs that led to a third floor. Tapestries that depicted many things, none of which he understood, hung from the high rafters and trailed just above the floor. Doors that were surprisingly light but wonderfully wrought with history and beauty led to other rooms. 

_Please, follow me. I'll show you a place you where you may sit and rest. And Terra was suddenly beside him and showing him a corridor that he hadn't immediately noticed, though it was just as exquisite as the rest of the building._

The room it ended at didn't have a door, just opened on into the hallway they had just traveled. Most of the colors in the room were dark red and pleasing on the eyes, edging the room with gold. Sofas and soft couches were set all around the room and a dark mahogany desk set with a lamp dominated the upper right corner of the room. Bookcases adorned nearly every wall and filled with books of every kind. A few were even strewn on the strategically placed tables.

_This is the study, as you might have guessed. It is one of my favorite rooms. Please, refresh yourself. And as he sat down on a wine-red sofa, a tray appeared on the table at his left elbow. The cup contained water, which he gratefully drank down. There was a bowl of fruit there as well and he nibbled on a few grapes while the spirit of the Earth, sitting next to the desk, studied him._

_You asked what this place was. Very well, I will tell you, but it will involve a great deal of history. Do you still wish to hear?_

"Yes," he answered after a moment of thought. The cats nodded, having occupied the other half of the sofa he was sitting on.

_When this planet was born physically, I emerged as its spirit. I was younger than the other spirits and they took me in like indulgent parents. Selene, the spirit of the moon, was most helpful and kind. I grew to know all of them very well and they became great friends._

_But I wanted a child so very badly. Finally, I confided my wish to my fellow spirits and they were quite unhappy about something. When I asked what, they told me they were unhappy because they were unsure if they could have children. But because they loved me so very much, as friends you understand, Jupiter and Mars succored me and tried to give me a child. Uranus, after having a long discussion with Neptune, his lover, did the same in hopes that I would be happy._

_Yet I remained barren. Then Pluto approached me, something that seldom happened, and told me that if he did indeed embrace me as Jupiter, Mars, and Uranus did that I would conceive child. He asked if that was what I really wanted. I told him more than anything. But he told me something else interesting. I would be the child's mother, but neither he, Jupiter, Mars, nor Uranus would be the father. According to him, the oldest of all the spirits, that the only way a spirit could have children would be if all the male spirits had given me some of their power, when they embraced me, to make that life. But that even then, the child would not be undying or a spirit. The child would be mortal._

She paused then. Shingo was just as glad and had a feeling that he knew why she had. His head was pounding from hearing her words like that. After a few moments, when he nodded that he was fine, she continued.

_It took nearly three million years for me to give birth, and by that time, my physical body, Earth I named it, was ready to support something other than simple plant life. I bore a son and couldn't have been happier. As a gift to him on his tenth birthday, I solidified some of my power into a stone for him to use. The human race, the mortal race, wasn't long in existence by his birth, only a few hundred years or so, but it allowed my son to choose someone to his liking and have a child of his own._

"What did you name your son?"

She smiled. _Terran. You see, I was not known as Terra with the other spirits, nor as Gaia. They simply called me Earth, as I called the others Jupiter and Mars. The only exception to the naming rule at the time, a spirit not the same named as the planet itself, was Selene. She called her body the Moon, but preferred the name Selene. So I named my son Terran. Over the course of the mortal history, they had developed different languages and then I was called Terra, a misconstruction of my son's name as the history was distorted and forgotten. Then the spirits and I started calling me Terra while my body remained named Earth._

_This place, to get to your question, was a gift for my son and his children, a safe haven for them. My son eventually managed to become a leader of a kingdom of the mortals and I was never prouder. He ruled justly as did his heirs. He never told any of the other mortals that he was my son, except his children and heirs. And only when he passed down the jewel I had given him for his tenth birthday. It became a family heirloom, but I suppose it has its faults. I had only one son so when I created the stone, it would only respond greatly to one of the children of Terran, even if he had three. They could use it to an extent, but not in the way a certain of the children could. It was completely random who it would choose to allow its full access to. _

"One of the Knights, Zoisite I believe it was," Artemis began when she stopped talking, "said it had a safety device that prevented the user from dying. That unless they how to use it, they couldn't use the full power of it."

_That is true. I didn't want my son to die if he did a very strong spell he couldn't handle so I did put that one restriction on it._

"What about the Knights anyway?" Shingo interrupted. "Mamoru has this."

He pulled out the Golden Crystal and she reached out to touch it. It flared when her hand came into contact with it. She smiled again. _Yes, Endymion has the stone. He is one of Terran's descendents. The others, his friends that swore their life for him…well, dear Kunzite was half right when he they are half-brothers. Actually, they're all brothers in a long, long way. Terran had many children with the woman he loved and the line has populated the mortal race. If they could trace their lineage all the way to the beginning, Kunzite, Nephrite, Zoisite, and Jadeite would find they are descended from Terran's great-grandchildren. I always keep tabs on my children. Because of their blood, they all have special abilities, such as Nephrite reading the stars, though none is strong enough to use the stone like Endymion._

"How does the Ginzuishou and my sister fit into all this?" he asked, confused.

_Who is your sister?_

"Tsukino Usagi," answered Luna proudly. "Formerly Princess Serenity of the Moon Kingdom."

_Ah. You see, Selene soon wished for a child as well. Pluto told her the same thing he told me and she agreed. She had a daughter and named her Selenity, which started the long line. It was then discussed about supporting life on our physical bodies. But we had not realized the extent of the ingenuity of mortals. While we were talking about it, mortals had used magic to make all of our physical bodies livable. Unfortunately for everyone else, their planets could not support life naturally like I could._

She sighed. _We were quite unhappy and distraught at the destruction of the civilizations at the fall of the __Moon__Kingdom__. We kept waiting for the day the other mortal races would raise up their majestic cities again, but when they lost the magic in their blood and turned to technology, we gave up hope. We've only begun to get that hope back with the mortals on Earth trying to make space livable and trying to make Mars habitable for them again. _

"Does anybody live down here? What exactly was this place built for?"

Terra smiled. _So many questions, young…what was your name?_

"Shingo."

_Well, Shingo, I designed this place for Terran and his children to come to when they wished to live out the rest of their lives in peace. It has always happened that when one of my children reaches a certain age, they come here to spend what time they have left in solitude and peace. At least it happened that way until the technological era came about. Now they don't believe in magic anymore. But I do love Selene's daughter. She managed to save the princess, Serenity, and the Senshi and sent them to this time. It may be time to bring magic back to life. And I am glad she was able to save Endymion and his brothers' lives as well._

She tapped her fingers on the mahogany desk in mild irritation. _Selene and I were very displeased when the mortals forbid contact and love between the people on my body and hers. What difference was there between them after all? Living a little bit longer hardly mattered, even if it was so much longer to the…what were they called? Earthlings. I suppose it could be our fault, slightly, for encouraging, in our own mild way, the romance between Endymion and Serenity._

"What do you me, encouraging?" spluttered Artemis.

_Well, whenever dear Serenity would visit Earth to see my Endymion, Selene and I made it a little easier to get here. The ban on inter-planetary travel wouldn't have allowed her to get through at all, but we easily overrode that, in a technical term. Their magic may have been good, but we were the planets and spirits ourselves with much more power to say who would and who would not come to us._

Shingo yawned a bit and rubbed his aching head. "But you didn't say if there was anybody else living here."

_Enough questions, young Shingo. You are tired and your head hurts. I have forgotten how hard it is for someone who is not of my bloodline to talk with me. Rest._

He fell asleep without another word.

_He should be put to bed._

"We'll take care of that Terra," Luna answered at her worried look. "We would like magic back in the world as much as you do because only here, where magic is, can we change from our feline form." She shimmered and became a young woman.

_I have no doubt that you long for it as much as I do._

"Thank you for allowing us to come here," Artemis murmured as he picked up the young boy in his arms.

_There is no need for thanks. Endymion and the others knew I would allow you here if they trusted you enough to tell you about this place. A bedroom is on the second floor._

"How did he know about it?"

_When Endymion's parents died, he felt terribly alone. I appeared to him and told him the truth about what he was and the power he had. And about this place. Whenever everything became just too much for him, I would bring him here for a few hours to let him rest and relax before he went back to his life._

_Where, or rather why, did my child send you here with such a small one with you and the stone with him?_

They did not relish telling her the truth, but it was never advisable to lie to a spirit and Terra did deserve to know.

"Because Endymion, the Shitennou, Serenity, and the Senshi are going to confront Beryl and keep her from taking over the Earth the way she destroyed the Silver Millennium."

At the dark queen's name, thunderclouds appeared in her golden eyes and they knew without a doubt that a few places on the surface were being ravaged by heavy storms that had no warning. 

_We should have taken care of that sun demon long before the Silver Millennium fell. And that is what the spirits shall do when they have removed its puppet._

With those threatening words hanging in the air, Terra disappeared. Artemis and Luna went in search of the promised bedroom.

End Chapter 22

Long chapter. Sorry it was so late in coming, but I've been very busy. _Lot of talking and history. I would have preferred to break it up somehow with other stuff, but I didn't see how. Chapter 23 will be much more exciting._


	23. Chapter 23: Under An Alien Sky

Author's Note

The normal disclaimers here of course and that I'm certainly not doing this for money.

There are a few elements that are exclusive to the manga, as you will read, but those only involve character differences than from the anime, such as the Shitennous' relationship. Also, Mamoru has the Golden Crystal. 

If you need to contact me, my email is Guardian4@atlantic.net. Please put fanfiction or something in the subject line so I know what you're emailing me about. And if you're a really nice person (if this pertains to a certain fanfiction that I've done) you might want to put the name of the fanfiction you're referring to somewhere in the email.

All names are like the Japanese say them, last name first. So Kunzite's name would be Kail Rainer in America, but in Japanese it would be said Rainer Kail.

_Army of Immortals_

_Chapter 23: Under An Alien Sky_

"I sincerely hope you had a plan before charging in here." Tomi's voice clattered through the stone walls and cells.

"Shut up," Mars muttered irritably.

"Are you with Tomi, Mars?" questioned Tuxedo Kamen, trying to place where his friends were in relation to the cells.

"Yeah; definitely a lose-lose situation for me."

"What does that mean?!"

"Either you end up killing me or I end up killing you, out of sheer irritation," the warrior shot back.

He interrupted before it could degenerate into a fight. "Mars, where is everyone else?"

"Well…I don't know. Mercury, where are you?"

"I'm with Tuxedo Kamen."

"There's that answer. How about you, Sailor Moon?"

"Kunzite."

"Speaking of that, how's my second-in-command?"

There was a deep grunt.

"I don't think he's all that great," responded his girlfriend carefully, after a long pause.

"What's he doing?" he asked, sitting up.

"Um…he's staring at the ceiling."

"Kunzite?" Mamoru prompted cautiously. "What are you doing?"

"I'm counting the mold on the ceiling. Got to 120 now."

"Oh." Silence. "How about you, Nephrite? Who're you with?"

"Zoisite."

Nothing.

"Something wrong?" asked Mercury.

"I think he's going into Wisdom Senshi-withdrawal. He's twitching a bit. I'd bet in an hour he'll either begin climbing the walls or making out with me."

Mercury blushed bright red, and at that exact moment there was a thump from down the hall.

"Shut up!"

"Stop acting like children," Venus commanded. "We have to figure out a way of getting out of here."

"Love to see that happen," Tomi commented dryly.

"Who's with you, V?" questioned Moon curiously.

"Jadeite."

His brow furrowed in thought. "So, Mercury's with me. Tomi is with Mars, Nephrite is with Zoisite, Kunzite is with Sailor Moon, and Jadeite is with Venus. Aren't we missing someone? Where's Jupiter?"

Heaving clunking and by peering through the bars in the cell door, he could see Nephrite doing the same, yelling, "Jupiter? Jupiter!"

A chorus of voices began shouting as well.

Where was Jupiter?

It was more comfortable than anything he had ever slept in and Shingo seriously debated about actually leaving the bed. He was so comfy that he really didn't want to move; not at all.

But he sighed all the same. He knew he had to get up, at the very least to get food because of the loud growling his stomach was doing.

"Are you going to lie in bed all day?" called a mildly irritated voice from below.

That certainly clinched it. Luna would never give him a moment's peace until he got up and he didn't want that angry cat following him around everywhere. Finally he managed to pry his unresponsive body out of the wonderful bed, which felt as if it was made of millions of feathers, and get to his feet.

He stepped out of the room and easily located the stairs to his left. As he descended, the unaccustomed weight around his neck made him pause. Grabbing at the front of his shirt, he felt the lumpy shapes just underneath without pulling them into the light. There was the inverted pyramid, with a rounded bottom, that was his sister's. And then the one next to it, the perfect diamond shape that almost seemed to have another smaller duplicate in the center, was Mamoru's. Somehow in the short glance he had given them, the images of them had impressed themselves in his brain.

"They didn't take it away when I slept?" he wondered aloud.

"No, Shingo, we did not."

Shingo looked down from his vantage point in the middle of the stairs. Two adults stood staring up at him. The female had the most incredible mane of black hair he'd ever seen and he included the spirit Terra in that. Four ball shaped lumps of locks, much like his sister's, adorned her head. She wore a pale yellow vest over a white shirt with hunter green slacks.

The man next to her had white hair that trailed almost down to his knees. At his waist was a buckled sword with an actual diamond embedded in the hilt. He wore full out white on white, a long jacket over pants.

But the most remarkable thing about them were their ears: they were pointed.

Not like an elf's, like all those ideas of elves in the stories, but more like…more like a cat's.

"Who are you?"

They seemed affronted that he asked. "What do you mean, 'who are you?'" demanded the woman. "It's Luna and Artemis!"

"But…but…but Luna and Artemis are cats!"

"We're from the planet Mau, where we have the ability to morph between cat and human forms," explained Artemis tiredly. "We can only do this here though because all the magic has nearly gone from above. Only when it has returned will we be able to choose between human and feline form on the surface. I must say it is a relief to be out of cat form though. I can actually stretch muscles that I haven't used at all in this life."

Shingo managed his way down the stairs, still staring at the…couple. "Why did you leave the crystals with me?"

"It's rather hard to explain," answered Luna as they left the building. "You see, if we touched it or held it, it would give off a magical alert so that Beryl would feel it. Then she would find this place, though it would take her awhile. Besides, Usagi and Mamoru trust you to take care of them, know that you will take care of them."

"And we trust _them," Artemis added._

He looked around at him, the scenery just as breathtaking as before. Smiling, he strolled up to the rose bushes and touched the soft petals, being wary of the barbs. But as he straightened, the corner of his eye wandered to that walkway. What was at the other end of it?

Glancing behind him to see where Luna and Artemis were, safely enough away that they would not notice him gone immediately, he carefully walked slowly toward the outdoor corridor. When he had reached it unscathed and unobserved, he let out a silent sigh of relief. He didn't know why he felt the need to be secretive, exploring this walkway, but something, instinct perhaps, wanted him to be the first to see it, alone. 

The rose bushes, so thickly grown together that he marveled they were able to grow at all competing for all that soil space, glittered and almost seemed to wink at him as he passed.

It wasn't all that long of a path, but as he reached the end of it he realized that at some point, there was a stone roof that followed to the end. Once again, he looked behind him. Luna and Artemis weren't there.

Turning ahead, he took the last few steps forward to see what was beyond. What he saw though, surpassed anything he had ever once imagined and he found himself thinking he would love to spend the rest of his life there. Nothing was a beautiful as this place.

"Stop yelling; your friend will be back shortly," commanded a youma crossly as it came down the stairs.

The youma struck him as a bit odd. It seemed to be intelligent to say the least, and had a good grasp of Japanese. And there was no sound accompanying the 'words', no hissing, clinking, or otherwise. With it, was the other youma guard from before when he and Sailor Moon had been captured.

"Where is Jupiter?" demanded Nephrite, unconscious of his rather vulnerable position of being imprisoned.

"She's with Queen Beryl." The gangly youma, a decent pass at a human shape, sat in a 'chair' in the center of the room, on one side of a 'table'. Its companion sat down opposite and from its slimy tentacle dropped a multitude of small stones. Shifting them and splitting in some order, they began a game of…something. From what Mamoru could tell, he thought it might be there version of chess or perhaps checkers.

"You seem to be very well informed," commented Kunzite, draping his arms through the bars and giving a picture of relaxed conversational attitude. But he could read the tense lines of his friend's posture all too well. He knew that Kail was digging for information, but if the youma was smart enough as it seemed to be…

"Well you're not very subtle," it responded rudely. "I know exactly what you're doing and what you're going for."

"Are you going to tell us, then?" questioned Venus.

It tilted its head and actually seemed to think about the request. "I certainly don't see why I shouldn't. It isn't like you can do anything with the information. All right. What do you want to know?"

"What is Jupiter doing in the throne room?" cut in Sailor Moon immediately.

With its beady little eyes, looking almost like buttons, it studied the tabletop. Mamoru took a moment to really analyze the thing. There was an air about it that almost screamed 'him' and he began to notice features that resembled human anatomy. It was remarkably like a human being, in physical form at any rate. It had bluish black skin that looked to be made of granite, but didn't make any sort of noise as if it was stone. Oddly enough, 'he' wore clothes that were well manufactured but seemed to have been put through a bit of wear and tear. 'He' had no mouth, but it did have 'eyes' and a 'nose', such as they were. No ears and no hair, but other than that, very similar to a human being.

"She's being interrogated. Queen Beryl is hoping to find a lever to use against him," And 'he' pointed toward Nephrite without ever letting 'his' eyes leave the tabletop, "so that he will be more apt to give leverage against _him," And he finished pointing at Mamoru._

"Why would she think that a Senshi would have something to give leverage against a Knight?" asked Mercury cautiously.

Finally 'he' looked up. "Though I am a little irritated with her decision to put me on prison duty, I am still loyal to Beryl. Do not insult Her Majesty's intelligence. It is quite obvious that there are romantic pairs among you, not the least of which, who Beryl particularly loathes, is Serenity and Endymion."

"Speaking of which, what are the likes of _you_ doing down here?" inquired Jadeite curiously. "You don't strike the type."

'He' frowned. "Her Majesty had a normal mood swing. You see, most of the plans set against you to collect energy were made by me."

"Some of them were quite ingenious," Zoisite commented without rancor.

The youma looked pleased at the compliment. "I know, they quite were. A few of them actually succeeded, though no doubt you wouldn't have known about them. Only one succeeded after the Senshi and you popped up, but the ones before did. But of course, you all had _something _that woke you to the warriors you are. I suppose my operations were the catalyst that started it all." 'He' sighed. "I must admit, though, that your solutions to my more complex plans were in their own right ingenious. Some of them I would not have thought of."

Mercury and Zoisite looked infinitely pleased as well. "Thank you," the Senshi murmured as her boyfriend nodded.

But then 'his' carriage seemed to droop as 'he' made 'his' move. The other youma didn't seem to care at all about their conversation. "But ever since she realized that Tuxedo Kamen was Endymion and Sailor Moon was Serenity, she changed. She became so obsessed with getting Endymion for herself and not only taking the Ginzuishou from Serenity, but killing her as well. Every plan I made that didn't succeed became another against my record. She's ignored all the successes of mine, that numbered many, and all the other flourishing plans of things other than collecting energy and has concentrated on all my failures!"

'He' seemed quite upset and angry, 'his' form shaking with 'his' feelings. "Then, even though my plan to get you here and capture _worked_, she yells at me, physically yells, when I comment that for all your ingenuity and intelligence you seemed to have walked straight into a trap without second thought. She accuses me of _admiring_ you! How dare she! I must admit to some kind of respect for you and your teamwork, not to mention your successes, and it is mostly because of you warriors that I've done my best work, but that doesn't explain her sudden mood switch and totally unjust accusation! Then she assigns me, her reasoning that it won't be so hard being around people that I admire, to do prison duty! The indignity of it all! I've collected her so much energy, almost enough to release her precious Queen Metallia-sama, and she doesn't take any _notice! Every time I sent out a mission, every single time energy came, I kept it stored so that when the Senshi and Knights disrupted the operation, I would still have energy to give her! I made all her plans, commanded nearly all of her forces, and she assigns me to __prison duty!"_

If 'he' could have breathed like a human, Mamoru would have said 'he' would be gasping in rage.

"Might be careful what you say then," advised Tomi. "She'll think that tongue-lashing you just gave her to be insubordination."

'He' looked up and then at 'his' companion, still trying to decide where to move. Then 'he' laughed. "She won't find out what I said unless you tell her and I sincerely doubt you will. There are no other youma around here and my…'friend' won't tell her _anything_!"

"Why is that?"

"Because of what she did to him. You see, he was one of a pair of…'twins'. During a mission, they were out and a fight against you all broke out. His 'twin' had the opportunity to take the energy and run or save him. She saved him, but the crystal that had stored the energy was shattered. When they appeared before Queen Beryl, she was livid. She…murdered his 'twin' and when he had defended her, out of sheer anger and grief, she did this to him." 'He' waved 'his' hand at the blob opposite him. "He wasn't always like that. He was actually remarkably human looking except for his eyes. Now, he's this. He's never forgiven Queen Beryl for not only killing his 'twin', but for turning him into what he is now."

End Chapter 23

Look forward to Chapter 24. We'll begin the action there! My estimate would be a Chapter 24, possibly 25, and then epilogue. Anyone that's read my work knows I always have an epilogue. 

Thanks for reading this far!


	24. Chapter 24: Rays in the Dark

Author's Note

The normal disclaimers here of course and that I'm certainly not doing this for money.

There are a few elements that are exclusive to the manga, as you will read, but those only involve character differences than from the anime, such as the Shitennous' relationship. Also, Mamoru has the Golden Crystal. 

If you need to contact me, my email is Guardian4@atlantic.net. Please put fanfiction or something in the subject line so I know what you're emailing me about. And if you're a really nice person (if this pertains to a certain fanfiction that I've done) you might want to put the name of the fanfiction you're referring to somewhere in the email.

All names are like the Japanese say them, last name first. So Kunzite's name would be Kail Rainer in America, but in Japanese it would be said Rainer Kail.

_Army of Immortals_

_Chapter 24: Rays in the Dark_

"Jupiter! Jupiter, can you hear me?" demanded Nephrite.

There was a groan.

Not five minutes ago, the Soldier had been thrown into an empty cell. From what he could tell, from his very limited view, she looked like hell. Was it possible that that was the girl he had fallen in love with? "Please, Jupiter! Answer me!" he nearly screamed.

This time there was no youma to tell him to be quiet. Some time ago, it had apparently been called away by Beryl.

"Nephrite?"

He sighed in relief. "Jupiter, are you all right?"

"…Fine," she grunted after a moment. "Sailor Moon? Sailor Moon, where are you?"

"A cell down two from yours. I'm with Kunzite."

"Good."

There was a long pause in which they could hear a trickle of water running over stone.

"So what do you all-powerful people plan to do, exactly?" drawled Tomi.

"Back to your old form, I see," snapped Mars. He felt sorry for the Senshi, as she was trapped with her in the cell. "For your information, we are not all-powerful. If we were, we would not be _in _this situation."

"Please Tomi," whispered Kunzite, finally speaking since the short sentence he had answered to Mamoru. "Please, Tomi, don't do this to us."

"Do what?" She sounded truly puzzled.

"This is ten times worse for us than it is for you," his friend continued quietly. "This is the stuff of our nightmares. We're barely holding onto our sanity right now. You have no idea the memories we have of the Silver Millennium, the kind of thing that Beryl and Metallia can do. Just being here is torture for us. We're so scared right now that it is a miracle we can even think in a coherent sentence. So, _please_, cut us a little slack. It's probably partly my fault. I was…terrified about what would to happen to you, so I rushed us in here."

"That's not true, Kunzite, and you know it!" denied Zoisite. "We didn't have much choice anyway."

To Nephrite, Tomi remained suspiciously silent after her brother's speech. He almost longed to be in the cell with her instead of Mars, just to know what she was doing, thinking.

It seemed to occur to the others that she was suddenly so silent. "Tomi?" faltered Kunzite.

"I'm so sorry," whispered a voice he couldn't associate with the brash, loud, and arrogant girl. "I should have been paying attention and not let myself get caught, I guess. You all shouldn't even be here."

"But you understood," whispered Venus. "You understood at the last second, and that means a lot to us, not to mention to Kunzite."

"I guess I did. I'll never understand the depths of the feeling my brother has for Mam—Endymion, but I could see what was happening. And while I probably never will understand, at least I've begun to reconcile myself to it."

Just at that moment, the intelligent youma stamped down the stairs angrily. He had only a minute to wonder why before it unlocked all the cell doors. Cautiously, and no little shocked, the Senshi and Knights stepped from the cramped rooms.

"My friend is upstairs, watching for any of Beryl's spies so don't worry." It was shaking so badly he almost thought it would fall apart. Rage filled its voice. "This was the last straw! Giving my duty to a lower creature with not even half my brains! I don't care how you do it, as long as I'm there when you kill her!"

"But…you do know that once we destroy Beryl and Metallia, you will fade away right?" questioned Mercury.

"I know, but I don't care. Hypocrite is what she is! She needs…she needs…"

It couldn't finish, but they knew what it meant.

"Senshi? Knights? It's time to finish this," Venus said grimly. "Let's get Tomi out of here first. Hopefully we can teleport her to her house."

"No, not her house," interrupted Tuxedo Kamen and the Senshi, except for Sailor Moon, looked at him in surprise. "There's a place that she'll be unutterably safe until we come back."

Nephrite knew exactly what place that was and the Knights nodded. Slowly and with obvious reluctance, he told them about Elysian, the 'safe house' of the Knights and especially Mamoru's own.

"Good. Tomi are you ready?"

She shrugged. "Sure." As though it was awkward for her, she quickly hugged her brother before they surrounded her. With a flash of light, she was gone.

"Come on," Sailor Moon rallied quietly. "Let's finish this."

Tomi found herself in a field surrounded by roses. Her sudden appearance must have been more abrupt than she had thought, for a young boy with brown hair started, yelling in shock, and fell onto his behind. His voice brought two other people running toward them.

She ignored them for a moment. There was a walkway that the two adults came running on, surrounded on every side by thick rose bushes. A small building with what looked like only one room was behind her. Just inside she could see a small pedestal with a cushion waiting for something on the top.

"Tomi!"

Her head snapped back to the male adult. "Who are you?"

He rolled his eyes. "Artemis, remember? And Luna?"

"Who is this?" demanded the young boy.

"Tomi. She's Kail's…Kunzite's sister."

_It's becoming quite popular down here. I haven't had this many visitors since the Triplets of Terran's great-grandchildren._

Tomi started violently at the voice in her head as a beautiful woman _floated up to the four of them. "Who are you?"_

_You may call me Terra if you like. I'm the spirit of the Earth._

Suddenly things started to click. "They deliberately left them," she muttered in wonder. "Those two left their crystals behind because they had a plan!"

"Yes," answered the woman who she was having a hard time associating with the cat Luna.

"So what exactly was the plan then?!"

Luna sighed and Tomi watched as the spirit Terra watched the four of them, offering no comments whatsoever.

"Usagi-chan and Mamoru-san were afraid that the crystals would fall into Beryl's hands so they gave them to Shingo, Usagi-chan's younger brother, to take care of. When they go into battle, they will call on their power and defeat her."

"Exactly how can they do that if the crystals are here and they are there?" Shingo asked, perplexed.

"There was partly another reason for bringing you here. Here, it is magic. With the spirit Terra's help, it might be possible for them to call on the power without having the jewels present," answered Artemis cautiously.

The two of them were silent and exchanged a glance. Luna and Artemis were riding on a thin hope. "Can you?" prompted Tomi to the silent spirit.

_I can. It will be difficult, but it can be done with the help of Serene._

"Serene?"

_Serene is the spirit of the Moon. You see, since it is my power embedded in Endymion's stone, I can easily call it and channel it to him. Serene's power is the other stone and can channel it to her child. It is simple procedure, just difficult to get past the barriers to where they are._

"Child? She's the child of a spirit?" demanded Tomi, suddenly confused.

"Endymion and Serenity are descendents from the children of the spirits of the Earth and Moon respectively," Luna answered. "The Ginzuishou and the Golden Crystal were gifted to their children and it has been passed down through the generations. What happened to the Senshi?"

Tomi shook her head for a moment, to clear it. "We were imprisoned for a while, but a…youma thing let us out. It was really mad at this Beryl b—" She cut her language at the last second, with a guarded look at the spirit, who didn't seem to notice. "They were going to attack Beryl when they sent here."

"I hope they're going to be all right," murmured Artemis.

Shingo pointed. "Who's that?"

Everyone including Terra turned to see someone exiting the small building. The man was tall and gorgeous. When he looked at her, she felt a blush creeping on her cheeks. He had pale silver hair and sky blue eyes that smiled. His robes were white and edged in gold. Around his neck was another crystal.

_Ah. This is Chavez, a priest of mine. He is, in a very round-a-bout way, a child of mine. He chose to live here with me. His name means 'dream maker'. _

Tomi smiled at him as he greeted everyone impartially. "It is a pleasure to meet you all."

"Do…do you live here? I mean, in the temple here?" She fought the urge to stutter under his gaze. Her heart was beating so hard it felt like a drum.

He laughed lightly. "Not in the temple itself. I live in the building at the end of the walkway."

Terra studied her 'child' and Tomi and she wished she wouldn't look at her that way. It made her think that the spirit was thinking of becoming matchmaker. _I think you should all get some rest. The young woman has been through a lot._

"My name's Tomi," she said, as much to tell the spirit as to tell Chavez.

The five of them were quiet as they proceeded down the beautifully paved path. She tried to think of something to say, but nothing came to her lips. As soon as they had come upon the end of the walkway, Artemis and Luna excused themselves and went to a corner of the area and began to fight. For a minute she wondered why until she remembered the training that Kail had spoken of.

The boy, who looked to be eight, locked his fingers behind his head and studied Chavez. "Do you have a Golden Crystal too?"

The priest blinked and chuckled. "No, this stone is different. It prolongs my life. I've been a priest of Terra's for nearly eight hundred years. She wishes me to settle down and have a family." He shrugged.

"So what happens if you did find someone you wanted to have a family with?" she questioned.

"I would give this crystal back Terra. Then I would live out the rest of my life and eventually die."

Shingo looked around them and wandered to the nearest foliage, touching the flowers reverently.

"You must like roses," she commented in the silence.

"Yes, but it is mostly Terra's doing that makes them grow so thickly and wonderfully."

He smiled at her again and the blush heated her cheeks for the second time. She couldn't remember ever being this tongue-tied before in her life.

"We're splitting up in the best groups," Venus said without preamble as soon as the intelligent youma had left them in the dungeon alone. "Zoisite and Mercury. Mars and Jadeite. Nephrite and Jupiter. And Kunzite and I. Endymion, we trust you to take care of Serenity. We're heading for the throne room. We have to defeat Beryl as soon as possible."

"How are we going to do that if we don't have the Ginzuishou or the Golden Crystal?" demanded Mars.

"Just because we don't have them with us," Tuxedo Kamen interrupted, "doesn't mean we can't call on the power. Call it a trump card."

"I trust you both," Kunzite said after a moment. "Come on, let's get going."

Sailor Moon followed Tuxedo Kamen closely as they split up. There were so many corridors to take that she didn't think they'd ever find the throne room. She prayed that her friends would be okay, that nothing would happen to them.

"Nothing will, if we can defeat Beryl," her beloved murmured, reading her face.

She nodded. "We will defeat Beryl."

The silence around them was eerie as they ran down corridor after aimless corridor that led to others just like it. Crackling from her communicator nearly made her shriek in surprise.

"We've been waylaid!" cried Mars' voice. "Don't expect us to be in the throne room. We have a veritable army before us. We must have stumbled into the barracks or something."

"Mars, be careful!" she wailed in concern. "Remember we promised the people of Japan that we would all come back and tell them it was over!"

"Don't worry," Jadeite's voice said back. "Our training is very good. We'll be out of this easy."

Neither she nor Tuxedo Kamen was reassured by his boasting, but nothing they could say could change the situation.

They continued on and getting three more calls from the others saying they had also run into trouble. By the time Jupiter had finished saying they had encountered enemies, Sailor Moon wanted to cry. Her friends…they could be dying and she would be alone to fight Beryl.

"You won't be alone. I'm going to be there," Tuxedo Kamen whispered in her ear. "It's time to be strong. We can do this."

Taking a deep breath, she said, "Yes, it's time to be strong. We can do this together."

Sprinting to the end of the corridor, the door they recognized well loomed in the way. She took a moment to catch her breath. Once she thought it would have been beautiful, but now it was grotesque. What looked like human hands carved from the stone and reached out for something in front of it. Skulls were a motif that she didn't really want to see on a door.

"Ready?"

"Yes."

End Chapter 24.

Beryl has finally going to go head on with our noble heroes! And what's this? Is Tomi getting a boyfriend or just a crush? For the last chapter, 25 please watch for. After 25, you'll get an epilogue and it'll be done! So those of you that are waiting for this to finish so I'll work on The Last Journey, don't worry. It'll have its turn in a few short days.


	25. Chapter 25: Millennium Vengeance

Author's Note

The normal disclaimers here of course and that I'm certainly not doing this for money.

There are a few elements that are exclusive to the manga, as you will read, but those only involve character differences than from the anime, such as the Shitennous' relationship. Also, Mamoru has the Golden Crystal. 

If you need to contact me, my email is Guardian4@atlantic.net. Please put fanfiction or something in the subject line so I know what you're emailing me about. And if you're a really nice person (if this pertains to a certain fanfiction that I've done) you might want to put the name of the fanfiction you're referring to somewhere in the email.

All names are like the Japanese say them, last name first. So Kunzite's name would be Kail Rainer in America, but in Japanese it would be said Rainer Kail.

_Army of Immortals_

_Chapter 25: Millennium Vengeance_

She watched from the steps she was sitting on. He was gorgeous, funny, smart, loyal…so why didn't he have someone? Tomi scratched her head in confusion. But the thought of him with someone else sent up pangs of jealously. _Come on, what's wrong with me? It's not like I know him! Okay, so Kail said that Usagi and Mamoru loved each other at first sight, but their…exceptions. You just don't fall in love with someone when look at them. Even if they are wonderful, witty, handsome—arg! Stop thinking this, Tomi!_

"What are you doing just sitting here? Is there something wrong?"

The subject of her thoughts appeared as if magic in front of her. Despite her valiant effort to stop it, a blush crept up her cheeks. "No, there's nothing wrong. I was just thinking."

He smiled and she fought the urge to melt. "There isn't much to do here _but think half the time. It's nice to see someone else every once in a while."_

"Are you really one of Terra's children?"

Chavez sat down next to her and her heart beat harder.

"Well, come to think of it, I don't think so. Terra says in a round-a-bout way, but that means no. When she says round-a-bout way that means yes I am one of her children, but only in her mind and emotion. If I am her child, one of the descendents of Terran, her son, then I'm so far removed from the bloodline that I will barely have a drop of the blood of her son's, unlike Endymion and his friends."

"I don't understand about the whole bloodline thing when it applies to Kail," she admitted.

He smiled again. "You see, the stone that Terra gave to her children chose to respond to Endymion, since he is probably the direct descendent from Terran himself and all those of Terran's children that have had the use of the stone. Kunzite, Nephrite, Zoisite, and Jadeite are probably descendent from one of the brothers or a sister of Terran's other children, none of which had been chosen by the stone to use it. But you see, the bloodline has populated most of the human race. There are plenty of people like me out there that have only the barest smidgen of Terran's blood; just enough to show that we are related to him, but not enough to do anything else with it."

"What does that mean for me? I'm Kail's…Kunzite's sister."

His smile disappeared and he touched her wrist, her heartbeat beating so hard she thought it would crack a rib bone.

"It means nothing for you, Tomi. You do not have any of Terran's blood in you, not like Kunzite. Neither do your parents."

Her fist clenched as she thought of all things that were now dividing her from her brother. First it was the 'I'm an Earthen Knight' thing, then it was dying to protect Mamoru, and now it was 'I have Terran's blood'. Things were better when they were just simpler.

"I'm sorry."

She ignored his apology. "Why do you keep calling Kail Kunzite? It's not his name anymore."

The smallest of smiles appeared on his face, but it was more as if the edges of his mouth curled upward. As if he couldn't help it, even though his face was deadly serious. "You may know them by their new names, but here, where time never changes, we still call them Endymion, Kunzite, you get the picture. We just will always know them by that name because even when the Silver Millennium fell, nothing happened here."

"Wait a second. You said you were here for eight hundred years, but the Silver Millennium was destroyed at least a thousand ago!" she protested.

"That's true. When I came here, Terra always called them by Endymion and their Silver Millennium names. I came to pick up that habit. Of a certainty, we had to know their new names when they were born, but it is like us for you.  You cannot call Kail Kunzite without having to think about it; the opposite is true for us."

"Would you ever consider leaving here?" she asked after the silence had descended on them.

He watched Luna, Artemis, and Shingo near the roses. "I don't know. I've been here so long…I really do love it down here, but there's something missing. Sometimes when the silence gets too much I just want to hear someone's voice in my ears, rather than in my head. But then again, I've lived here for eight hundred years. I've put down my roots here, if you want to put it like that."

Tomi touched his hand that still held her wrist and he looked at her in surprise, as if he had forgotten he was holding her hand.

_I love the time and in between_

_The calm inside me_

_In the space where I can breathe_

_I believe there is a_

_Distance I have wandered_

_To touch upon the years of_

_Reaching out and reaching in_

_Holding out holding in_

"Please come with, Chavez, when I leave," she whispered. "Please."

Chavez stared into her eyes and that wonderful slow smile of his lifted his mouth. His other hand came up and gently touched her cheek.

They slammed the door open, startling the youma and Beryl both. "You won't get away with this again!" Sailor Moon told her, with more bravery than she felt.

_I believe_

_This is heaven to no one else but me_

_And I'll defend it as long as I can be_

_Left here to linger in silence_

_If I choose to_

_Would you try to understand?_

"You plan to stop me, Serenity?" The queen stood. "You don't have your precious jewel."

With a thought, Tuxedo Kamen's outfit morphed and he was clad in dark armor. Next to him, Sailor Moon reached inside herself for the power of the Ginzuishou. She sincerely hoped that her beloved's idea worked.

_I know this love is passing time_

_Passing through like liquid_

_I am drunk in my desire..._

_But I love the way you smile at me_

_I love the way your hands reach out and hold me near..._

_I believe..._

The crystals began to glow and Shingo yelped a bit as they lifted into the air around his neck. His shout brought Tomi and Chavez out of their own world. They jumped to their feet and surrounded the young boy.

_So it has begun, _whispered Terra, her form nowhere to be seen.

_I believe_

_This is heaven to no one else but me_

_And I'll defend it as long as_

_I can be left here to linger in silence_

_If I choose to_

_Would you try to understand?_

Her fuku faded away and white material floated around her. Princess Serenity opened her eyes and the outline of the Ginzuishou was in her cupped hands. She could feel the power of the stone, but it was as if it was coming from very far away. It came in to her in a fast trickle, but she wasn't sure if she could accumulate the amount of power she…they would need to defeat Beryl.

Endymion's golden light washed the throne room and the youma rushing to them faded away without fanfare. Beryl gave an unladylike screech of surprise. 

_Oh the quiet child waits the day when she can break free_

_The mold that clings like desperation_

_Mother can't you see I've got_

_To live my life the way I feel is right for me_

_Might not be right for you but its right for me..._

_I believe..._

The light from the two stones was overpowering their sight, but it was obvious that it was not enough for the two people using them from afar, considering it kept getting brighter and brighter.

"Look, this is not going to work!" she told them at last. "They're not getting the power in the quantity they need!"

"There's nothing we can do," Artemis replied with anger.

"Chavez, did you say that there was a teleport thing back at the temple?"

He responded without thinking about it. "Yes. I used it to go to the surface when needed. Why?"

_I believe_

_This is heaven to no one else but me_

_And I'll defend it as long as_

_I can be left here to linger in silence_

_If I choose to_

_Would you try to understand it?_

"You can't defeat me," laughed her adversary as she bounced another of their combined attacks back at them.

It knocked them both to the ground, Endymion's armor shielding any debris coming down from the ceiling as the blast reverberated around the room.

"What are we going to do? We aren't getting the power fast enough," she gasped.

"Do what we can and hope the others arrive." He didn't say if they could.

_I would like to linger here in silence_

_If I choose to_

_Would you understand it?_

_Would you try to understand...?_

Tomi's hand snaked out and gripped both of them. The chains snapped from around the boy's neck as if they had been waiting for that. Neither glowing abated any and felt as if her skin torn off when she brushed the stones.

She took off down the stone path at full speed, ignoring the cries and the people following her. _I'm sorry, Chavez. I'm sorry, but I have to do this. They'll die if they don't get these stones._

It didn't take a moment to locate the teleporter pad in the temple's one room. She had just stepped onto it when Chavez followed by Shingo, Luna, and Artemis burst into room. Her eyes locked with the priest's and she mouthed, _I'm sorry. _Before they could do anything, her body faded away and she was gone.

_I would like to linger here in silence_

_If I choose to_

_Would you understand it?_

_Would you try to understand...?_

Serenity couldn't tell which of the three of them was more surprised at Tomi's abrupt appearance. Then Beryl noticed the glowing stones in her hand and lunged for her. 

"Here!" the girl screamed and tossed the jewels through the air in their general direction. Beryl's long claws impacted her hard, right in the chest and she crumpled to the ground, wheezing as the blood fell from her fist.

As soon as her hands touched the Ginzuishou, it flared and she felt the rush of power fighting to consume her. It then faded to a bearable level. Her beloved's crystal reacted much the same way. 

"Tomi!" cried Endymion in worry. "Tomi, are you—"

"Get rid of her, damn it!" she gasped with angry eyes at him. "Don't talk to me, kill her, damn it!" She collapsed into a coughing fit. It sounded as though one her lungs were punctured.

Serenity stood shakily and Endymion's hand reached out to steady her. She sent her will into the Ginzuishou and it responded immediately with a burst of light that slammed Beryl away from the young woman. The youma that had helped them slid in just behind them and cackled at the queen, who stared at it as she couldn't believe.

"It hasn't been nice knowing you, Beryl," it hissed with a distinctly smug and angry voice.

Endymion's Golden Crystal blazed with light, calling forth the power of the Ginzuishou. They intertwined as the two lovers stared at each other. "I love you," she murmured at him.

"I love you, too, Serenity."

They kissed, that cementing the entangled powers. They shot forth with a beam of white light toward the queen. 

"Metallia-sama! Save me!"

A shield appeared, but even as it worked, it suddenly failed. 

_No! Not those meddlesome spirits! Terra, Selene, you won't defeat me!_

But even as the sun demon screamed this, the entire throne room began to fall apart. Beryl watched in horror at what she had always known disintegrate. She ignored the white beam too long and crashed into her and tossed her back onto her nearly destroyed throne violently. Pinned there as she was, it wasn't long before her heart overloaded with the power of the two jewels. Her eyes locked onto her betraying youma in shock as she died and it laughed gleefully.

"Look out, Zoisite!"

Mercury watched in horror as the youma reached down toward her beloved. Then without warning, it gave a screech and faded away. In shock, she watched as the other youma followed its companion. The hallway was suddenly empty as quickly as it had filled.

"Come on, we've got to get to the throne room," the Knight said, getting to his feet.

"Right."

"I can't believe that," Jupiter commented as they ran. "All those youma just disappeared!"

"Serenity and Endymion must have succeeded in destroying Beryl."

"So what's this shaking then?"

"I don't know," answered Jadeite. "I just don't like it." He dodged a chunk of rock as it headed for his skull.

"I don't like it either. It gives me the creeps. I feel as if something that we don't know about happened and I don't like not knowing things," Mars said grimly.

"Come on, let's hurry up."

"There's the door!"

Venus put on a burst of speed. They were so close to the door…

"Damn, it's locked!" Kunzite exclaimed, tugging.

"Look out!"

She pulled him close to her, just barely keeping him from getting brained by a falling piece of ceiling.

He kissed her playfully. "Thanks."

At the same time, they kicked the door open.

The power fizzled out and the shaking grew worse. Slowly the youma that had helped them faded away, still with that satisfied look on its face. The two of them had just reached Tomi's nearly still form when the door burst open and Venus and Kunzite ran in.

The Knight took one look at her and nearly broke down. "What happened? How the hell did she get here?" he demanded, running up to them.

"I don't know, but neither of us, even with the crystals, can heal this injury," responded Endymion. "We need to get her to Terra."

The other Senshi and Knights rushed into the room just as they got into position to teleport. "Glad you all made it," Venus said gruffly.

"Told you our training was enough for those youma," Jadeite boasted yet again.

With Kunzite in the middle, holding Tomi, they disappeared just as a huge slab of stone fell where they were.

In minutes, the Dark Kingdom was nothing more than ruins.

End Chapter 25.

How'd you like it? Epilogue is coming up! And nobody died! I just thought that with their training, they would survive. I thought it was a nice change for a 'fiction that didn't have anybody dying and then resurrecting them at the end. The song is Elsewhere by Sarah McLachlan. It put it in there, since I was listening to the song when I wrote those parts. It's was like an short song just before the final, final end. Standard disclaimers (I don't own the song, Sailor Moon, etc.)


	26. Epilogue: Rainbow Dawn

Author's Note

The normal disclaimers here of course and that I'm certainly not doing this for money.

There are a few elements that are exclusive to the manga, as you will read, but those only involve character differences than from the anime, such as the Shitennous' relationship. Also, Mamoru has the Golden Crystal. 

If you need to contact me, my email is Guardian4@atlantic.net. Please put fanfiction or something in the subject line so I know what you're emailing me about. And if you're a really nice person (if this pertains to a certain fanfiction that I've done) you might want to put the name of the fanfiction you're referring to somewhere in the email.

All names are like the Japanese say them, last name first. So Kunzite's name would be Kail Rainer in America, but in Japanese it would be said Rainer Kail.

_Army of Immortals_

_Epilogue: Rainbow Dawn_

Endymion and Serenity nearly collapsed in exhaustion.

"Usagi-baka!"

She looked up in time to see something hurtling toward her. Her brother wrapped his arms around her neck and nearly cut off her breath. "Usagi-baka, don't you dare do that again!"

"Tomi! Tomi!"

There was not only Kunzite calling his sister's name, but a man she had never seen before. He wore robes of the finest material, white and trimmed in gold. A crystal, a topaz it looked like, hung from around his neck.

"Who are you?" she asked in surprise.

"That's Chavez, Terra's priest," Endymion whispered in her ear. "He…he kind of helped raise me."

Her eyebrows rose at him. 

"Somebody help her," Kunzite said frantically, his hands shaking as if he wished he could heal with simply his hands, like Endymion.

The priest, Chavez, glared down at the young woman even through the tears that streaked his face. "I'm going to get Terra, to see if she can help. If you die, so help me, I will kill you."

Tomi laughed weakly as he ran along a stone path. 

"Let's get her inside that house and into some kind of bed," suggest Mercury, managing to stop the blood flow from staining her shirt even worse. Every breath she took, however, still had blood bubbles on her lips. 

"Are you sure moving her would be a good idea?" Zoisite asked, taking a closer look at the five, small stab wounds. "What happened anyway?"

Serenity answered quietly, "We didn't have enough power. Our plan failed. We thought that if we left the crystals with Shingo and he came here, we would be able to call on the power through the spirits of the planets, Earth and Moon, and we would be able to defeat her without actually having the crystals present. We were wrong."

Endymion picked up where she could no longer finish. "Apparently Tomi realized this and managed to find a way to get back to the Dark Kingdom and into the throne room. Beryl saw the crystals in her hand and went for them. She tossed them to us seconds before Beryl's _claws slammed into her chest. If she hadn't come and given us the crystals, we wouldn't have been able to defeat Beryl at all."_

"How did she get there?" demanded Kunzite angrily. "She was supposed to stay here safe! I didn't think that you could get _out _of here without a teleport!"

"She did get out of here with a teleport," answered Chavez bitterly, Terra trailing behind. "I shouldn't have said a damn thing, but we were all stunned by the sheer amount of power coming off the stones. When she asked about the teleporter back in the temple, I answered without even thinking about it. It never occurred to me that she would use it to go to Beryl's throne room."

Terra knelt next to the young woman, who had passed into unconsciousness five minutes ago. _It is a grave wound. There are four puncture marks in the lungs, but one managed to graze the side of her heart. It is slightly off from the others. What made these wounds?_

"Fingernails," responded Endymion bitterly. 

_Fingernails?!_

"Yes, fingernails. They as long as small knives and twice as sharp."

The spirit turned back to the injured woman. _I will see what I can do. Take her into the house and put her in the first bedroom at the top of the stairs. Once she is on the bed, leave the room. I wish quiet while I work._

She faded away and they did as instructed.

After assembling in the study, there was a tense silence. 

"Well, we managed to survive and defeat Beryl," Jadeite finally said. "That's one less worry."

Silence.

"Usagi-chan?"

Serenity started and looked at her brother. She couldn't remember a time when he had called her anything but 'Usagi-baka'. "Yes?"

"You're not mad at me, are you? I didn't know she was going to take them, I swear I didn't!"

She looked into his earnest face and smiled. "I know you didn't know and I'm not mad. In fact, I'm very proud. You really helped us when we needed it."

Chavez and Kunzite were quiet, not saying a word, though their eyes never strayed from each other. They resembled wary wolves in a way, not sure what the other would do while the one thing that they had in common was being healed.

"So…Chavez, what's with you and Tomi?" questioned Jupiter, hoping to break the silence not only in the room but between them.

He looked at her. "Tomi…"

Silence.

Thirty minutes passed, during which a number of people began pacing. A number except Kunzite and Chavez, who remained silent. Finally Terra managed to float into the room, but her 'body' wavered in and out of sight.

"Terra!" Chavez, leaning against the desk, straightened. "Terra, are you all right? And how is Tomi?"

_I am simply tired, Chavez. The young woman…is fine. She is asleep, but she will live. I will rest now._

She faded away with that, but Kunzite and Chavez were already out of the door before anyone else could move.

"Really, I'm fine!" Tomi snapped. "I'm perfectly healthy!"

Kunzite looked dubious as they talked, waiting for everyone to gather so they could leave back to the surface. They had been in Elysian for three days, recuperating. Not only had everyone been injured, to varying degrees, but Endymion and Serenity had been asleep for most of the time. The amount of power they had used had drained them to the point of danger.

"Tomi? May I speak with you?"

The siblings turned to see Chavez a little bit away from them. Kunzite, over the past few days, had reconciled himself with the man's presence. He had known Chavez existed, but had not met him on his one visit to Elysian before this.

"If you're going to ask if I'm fine, don't," she began as they found a secluded spot to talk. "I'm perfectly healthy."

"Tomi, you asked me once if I would come with you to the surface. I'm here to tell you my answer."

She was absolutely still as could be, heart beating double time in anticipation and apprehension of his answer. She wanted him to say 'yes' more than anything, but she hardly expected him to. It was almost a given that he knew _something _of her past, and she had explained it in detail and without fanfare as quickly as possible so he knew just what she was. 

Tomi doubted he would choose to stay with her.

Slowly he reached under the neck of his robe and pulled on a chain, bringing the normal topaz to light. 

She watched silently. 

He stared at it for a long moment before reaching behind and unclasping it. 

She no longer breathed.

And dropped it. It glittered in the light as it fell, but then winked out of sight just before it touched the ground.

"I choose you."

Shocked, her eyes filled with tears. "Chavez…you know what happened to me. You know that I'm not a…virgin. You know what I've done. And you still choose to stay with me?"

"Tomi, you are human and for all your faults, I still love you."

"Hey, you two! Are you coming?" demanded Venus good-naturedly.

"How did you know he was coming?" she asked, relaxed and holding Chavez's hands as they approached.

The Senshi gave her a pitying look. "I'm the Soldier of _Love_ and I'm not called that for nothing."

Tomi laughed, totally at ease.

"So what are you going to name 'em, if you get any kids? I assume you will be getting married?"

"I was thinking about…Elios. It's a pretty name. What do you think Chavez?"

He whispered in her ear, "I think children are a long way off, but if we do have a son, that will be his name. But if we have a girl, you'll have to find something else."

She blushed a bit.

Golden light filled the inside of the temple and within moments, Elysian was empty once more. Deep inside the Earth, the spirit Terra slept on, but with the smallest of smiles as she held a topaz necklace.

"I think we have a date with a camera crew," Nephrite said as they appeared at the Hikawa Shrine. "We did promise the people we would tell them it was over."

Mars had disappeared into the Shrine the minute they had finished materializing. She came out now, with a smile fit to crack her face. "I agree. We did promise."

Shingo, Tomi, Luna and Artemis (resumed in cat form), and Chavez elected to stay at the Shrine with Mars' grandfather.

"Are we ready?" Jadeite asked as they stood on the roof of the building.

"Yes," answered Sailor Moon with confidence.

They leapt back down to the ground and entered the studio, amidst the shouts of surprise and shock of the people. A camera was placed in front of them and they managed to glimpse a television set in the reflection, a news caster apologizing for interrupting scheduled programming.

Someone nodded at them and Tuxedo Kamen and Sailor Moon stepped up. "People of Japan," she began, "we're here to keep our promise; the promise that the Sailor Senshi and the Earthen Knights made to you before we left."

"People of Japan," her beloved picked up, "we promised to let you know what happened. Well here it is: it's over. The threat is gone and we can live in peace."

"What happens if something else happens?" asked a timid civilian from behind the camera.

"If something else happens," answered Venus, "then we will be here to fight it and protect you. That is, after all, our calling."

Cheers sounded and they smiled.

"I think it's time we visited our families and tell them who we _really _are," whispered Zoisite.

When Zayn entered his home, he found his father lying on the living room floor, the note next to him. Terrified, he rushed forward and hunted for any self-inflicted wounds. Fear made his hands shake as he searched for a pulse.

His father groaned and clutched his head, dislodging a bottle that he hadn't noticed before.

"Dad? You drank yourself into a stupor?!" he demanded indignantly.

That head snapped up and stared at him, as if he couldn't believe his eyes. Then that bone-crushing hug enveloped him and Zayn had never felt so safe in his life. 

"What has been going on with you?"

"This," he whispered and held out a pin with a zoisite stone in it. "Let me explain like I promised."

Makoto entered without the slightest of hesitations like the last time she had been over at his house. His mother and father sat on the sofa, listening to a rerun of the Senshi and Knights debut on television.

"Personally, I think my hair could have been better," Neil commented at large and catching his parents' attentions.

"Neil! Makoto! Where on earth have you been?"

"Recuperating from the battle," he answered promptly.

"What battle?" demanded his father, standing up.

"The battle that we just told everyone in Japan was over."

"Wait a second," interrupted his mother, "you're implying…"

"Yep. I'm implying that Makoto and I are a Senshi and a Knight. Sailor Jupiter and Knight Nephrite."

"I think you hit your head," responded the older man immediately.

"I told you they wouldn't believe us if we just told them," he whined at his girlfriend.

She rolled her eyes. "It was worth giving it a shot. I guess we'll have to show them."

They pulled out their henshin wands…

Ami wandered through the hospital corridors looking for her mother. She assumed this was where she would be, since she was not at home. 

"Mizuno-san!" screeched a voice and she turned. It was one of her mother's aides and she had dropped every paper in the stack she had been carrying.

"Hello. Where is my mother?"

"In surgery. We tried to dissuade her…she's been sick…"

"She's been sick?" repeated Ami in alarm. "Why did she come in then?"

The aide only shook her head, her eyes never leaving the young girl.

She made her way immediately to the surgery wing and just as she got there, she spotted her mother just staggering out.

"Mother, what are you doing in surgery if you've just recovered from an illness? You're a doctor; you should know better."

"Ami-chan? AMI-CHAN!"

Her mother once again threw herself into her daughter's embrace. Right then and there, Ami knew she couldn't keep doing this to her mother. Even if she had not made the decision before, she would have then. 

"Come on, mother, let's go home. I've got some things I need to tell you about."

Tomi entered behind Kail with some trepidation. She had a bad feeling with how her parents were going to react.

"Mom? Dad?"

"Kail!" Her mother threw herself into her brother's arms. "Where on Earth have you been?"

"Young lady! Enough is enough," screeched her father, coming into the room. He stopped dead, seeing Chavez behind her. She glanced back and saw the steel and fire in her love's eyes and put a hand on his arm. He had managed to find some decent clothes of Yuuichirou (who had been suspiciously absent from the Shrine) that fit him.

"Who is this?"

"This is Chavez."

"Her fiancé," he added from behind her, his voice somewhat hard.

This had a not-so-good reaction from her father. "So you decided to marry someone because you got pregnant, huh?"

"She's not pregnant," yelled her brother and Chavez simultaneously.

Her father looked taken aback a bit. "Uh…what exactly is going on here?"

"Dear, just let them talk then," her mother said, finally seeming to get fed up with his attitude. "It is your refusal to let her explain anything that is tearing this family apart!"

He hung his head for a moment and then motioned toward the living room. "Let's sit down in comfort and you both can explain what in the gods' names is going on."

"How did your family take it?" Rei asked as they waited in the park for their friends.

"As to be expected," Jayden answered. "They didn't believe me, I had to show them, my mother then bawled at the fact that I nearly died, etcetera."

"Bet you enjoyed being the center of attention."

"But what better center of attention can there be when I have yours?" he whispered huskily in her ear.

She smiled and kissed him.

"Break it up, we're here."

Reluctantly they parted and turned. The four couples of warriors, Tomi and Chavez, and Luna and Artemis were nearly upon them, the cats riding on shoulders to save them the walk.

"Do you suppose we'll have to fight again?" Ami asked, her eyes far away.

"Without a doubt," answered Kail grimly. "But we'll meet the threat head-on."

"Just be careful," Tomi added, snuggled in Chavez's arms. "I don't want to be attending any funerals."

"So you've given up on trying to get Kail out of it?" prompted Mamoru lowly.

She sighed. "Yup. He won't get out of it no matter what I do and besides, if you're going into battle, I don't want to deny you your best guard. If you're going to be in battle, always have the max of protections."

"Thank you, Tomi. I think you finally understand," Kail whispered.

"No, I don't understand, but I've reconciled myself to it. That's about the best I can give you, bro."

"So, Chavez, what are you going to be doing here?" questioned Neil, leaning against the lake railing.

"As Rei has no doubt noticed, Yuuichirou is MIA."

They turned to the priestess. She sighed. "Yeah, he split. I think it was the knowledge that I was dating Jayden that did it. It was obvious even to me that he liked me."

"So I have made an agreement with Rei's grandfather. I will take Yuuichirou's place."

"Which is better, because Chavez actually has some priest and shrine experience," put in Makoto.

"What are you going to do when you decide to get married and move into your own homes?" Usagi inquired curiously.

"I was thinking then I might make my own Shrine, to the spirit Terra."

"These plans for the future sound wonderful," commented the black cat. "And the prospects of them coming true are now tripled with Beryl out of the picture."

"I think we've come a long way from those warriors who wished to just run away with their friends, don't you?" murmured Minako to Kail as the conversation of their friends washed over them.

"Yes. Yes, we have."

End Army of Immortals.

Hehe, it's done! What'd you all think? Thank you, everyone, for reading this far!


End file.
